Vilnius team “Ryto” started the relegation series in the Champions League at home with an assured victory 85:62 (11:16pm, 11:16pm, 7:12pm, 8:18pm) faced Thessaloniki PAOK.
The streak is up to two wins, the next match is scheduled for January 11 in Greece. If a third fight is needed, he will travel to Vilnius again on 17 January.
The Greek club arrived in Lithuania without four players: Nate Renfro, Georgios Kamperidis, Theodoros Konstantinidis and Diamantis Slaftsakis could not help the team.
Jarvis Williams (2:0) scored the first points of the hosts with a layup, but the opponents answered with 4 points and took the lead – 4:2. Marcus Foster and Elvaras Fridriksson (6:4) excelled in the Vilnius team, while Tomas Lekลซnas (9:4), author of a triple, was penalized with a technical foul for acting. The PAOK team soon equalized (9:9), but J.Williams again distinguished himself with a layup – 11:9. Margiris Normantas increased the lead (13:9) and M. Foster added a triple – 16:9. M. Echodas scored a free throw (17:9), but Jalen Riley answered with a triple – 12:17. At the end of the quarter, Vilnius managed to increase its lead – 23:16.
๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐ง๐, show us a perfect game to start a #BasketCL Play in game!@RytasVilnius pic.twitter.com/heyq4NZbGp
โ Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 3, 2023
PAOK got close to the Vilnius team (23:25), but the latter increased their lead again. Jarvis Williams scored, then Marcus Foster and Benedek Varadis – 31-23. In the middle, and the difference balanced on the double-digit limit, in the end Elvar Fridriksson gave “Ryt” a more solid lead – 36:25. He himself continued to be active in the attack, and the people of Vilnius kept control (43:37), leading 46:32 after two quarters.
Rytas looked confident even after the big chance (53:35), even if PAOK didn’t let themselves be crushed for some time. Vassilis Christidis narrowed the difference (40:53), but J.Williams and Margiris Normants had the answer – 57:40. The latter shot from distance and put Ryto ahead (60:40), so PAOK found themselves in a difficult situation. There were 2 minutes to go, the people of Vilnius didn’t waste their lead and led 65:44 before the last quarter.
๐ค What are you waiting for?
๐คท No problem for @Swaggy2_ ๐ช๐ช๐ช#BasketCL | @RytasVilnius pic.twitter.com/ntksU6GMzsโ Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) January 3, 2023
In the last half, the intrigue completely dissolved, “Rytas” was approaching victory (81:54), and the guests did not find any weapons to recover. The lead didn’t decrease, the people of Vilnius didn’t relax (83:54) and won calmly.
“Morning”: Marcus Foster (5 assists) and Margiris Normants โ 14 each, Martyn Echodas (5/5 doubles, 5 rebounds) and Benedek Varadis โ 11, Elvar Fridriksson 10 (5 assists, 5 fouls).
PAOK: Jalen Riley 17 (5 turnovers, 4 rebounds), Jaylen Hands 11, Tyler Polley 8 (5 rebounds), Yannick Franke 6, Jordan Sibert and Evangelos Margaritis 5 each.
