The visitors steamrolled their Spanish rival in the second half after dominating every department of a lop-sided contest
Cowan and Andrews shined for hungry Wolves against hapless Joventut
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Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius staged a major upset in Round 4 of the BTK EuroCup when the Lithuanian side romped to an emphatic 63-86 win at Joventut Badalona, sending shockwaves through the competition.
It was a stellar night for Anthony Cowan, who capped a memorable individual performance with a game-high 26 points, shooting 6 of 8 from the floor (4 of 6 from three-point range) and 10 of 10 from the foul line.
Andrew Andrews came back to haunt former club Joventut with 17 points, including some clutch triples which allowed the visitors to open up an insurmountable lead in the second half after edging ahead 35-36 at the interval.
Cowan acknowledged that Wolves were hungry for their first win of the season after losing their opening three games.
“We wanted to show that we are a winning team and that we’ve got a lot more to give,” the sharpshooting guard said in a post-game courtside interview. “A lot more games to go, but we wanted this one.”
Vilnius head coach Alessandro Magro was just as pleased with a turnaround in his team’s approach. “We lacked energy and effort in the previous games and we wanted to put that right,” he commented. “I am really happy that everybody who stepped on the court started from that point. I hope this is just the first step in the process as we trust ourselves in what we are doing.”
Wolves drained 11 three-pointers in total and 6 of them in the third quarter, when they raced clear into a 50-64 lead, having also hit 17 of 34 from two-point range and 19 of 22 from the foul line.
In contrast, Joventut endured a horrid shooting night as the hosts made only 13 of 31 shots from two-point territory, 7 of 24 from downtown and 16 of 25 free throws, having also committed 15 turnovers. The tepid performance prompted coach Dani Miret to pour scorn on his players.
“We had a very bad second half as we created nothing on offense,” he said. “They dominated us with their physicality and ideas, but the worst thing is how we finished the game. Total lack of focus and effort in the last few minutes.”