Lietkabelis takes Lithuanian League finals opener on the road at Rytas Vilnius, 68-77.
Domestic leagues: Lietkabelis takes finals opener against Rytas
After upsetting the champs in semifinals, Lietkabelis Panevezys continued rolling in the Lithuanian League on Thursday night with irs first win in the final series against Rytas Vilnius. When the dust settled, Lietkabelis was on top of the scoreboard, 68-77, making it a 0-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Young Panagiotis Kalaitzakis was the top scorer for the guests with his 16 points, Djordje Gagic added 15, Vtenis Lipkevicius posted 11 and two more players had 10 points apiece: Kristupas Zemaitis and Gabrielius Maldunas, the latter also adding 10 boards to his tally. For Rytas, Margiris Normantas led the way with 11 points.
Lietkabelis did not start the game so well as the hosts managed to jump ahead by 26-17 after 10 minutes. The two following quarters were all Lietkabelis however, as they managed to making it a combined 27-46 score bridging the second and third quarters, despite a final 5 of 23 from the arc after the final buzzer. A 60% in two-point shots was the key stat that allowed the guests to strike first in the series. The next game will take place next Sunday in Lietkabelis, in a series that could end in June 12 if it goes the distance to the last game.