Lietkabelis beats Brescia, 65-74, grabs fifth straight win

7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys recorded its fifth consecutive victory in Group A by downing Germani Brescia 65-74 at Palaleonessa A2A on Wednesday night. Both teams had already qualified for the playoffs before this game due to Joventut Badalona's 104-81 win against U-BT Cluj-Napoca on Tuesday. Lietkabelis improved to 9-7 in Group A and increased its odds of having the home-court advantage in the eighthfinals, with it now having a 2-0 record against Brescia, who dropped to 7-9.
Nikola Popovic led the winners with 11 points. Gediminas Orelik added 10 for Lietkabelis, which had seven other players scoring 6 points or more. John Petrucelli paced Brescia with 17 points. Aleksej Nikolic scored 11 for the hosts. Lietkabelis outrebounded Brescia 28-44, which was the biggest key to this game.
Orelik and Vytenis Lipkevicius gave the guest an early 0-5 lead. Nikolic stepped up for Brescia, getting help from C. J. Massingburg to put the hosts ahead, 12-10. Lipkevicius kept pacing the guest, and Gyorgy Goloman's dunk fixed the score at 17-18 after 10 minutes.
Stefan Peno and Paulius Murauskas fueled an 0-8 run that Goloman capped with a triple, good for a 22-28 Lietkebalis lead. Petrucelli and Christian Burns rescued Brescia, bringing their team within 27-28. Popovic took over with back-to-back baskets, igniting another 0-8 run that Kristian Kullamae capped with a coast-to-coast basket to boost the guest's lead to 29-38 at halftime.
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Massinburg and Nicola Akele stepped up after the break, and Odiase's putback dunk brought Brescia within 35-40. Odiase hit a floater and Nikolic adeed a triple to get the hosts even closer, 40-43. Petrucelli struck twice from downtown and added a fastbreak layup to keep Brescia within 48-52 after 30 minutes.
Peno and Morris each buried a three-pointer to make it a double-digit game, 50-60, early in the fourth quarter. Odiase and Cournooh joined forces to bring Brescia within 59-65 with four minutes left. Orelik fed Kullamae for a fastbreak layup, before striking from beyond the arc to seal the outcome, 59-70, as Brescia never recovered.