An extremely intriguing fight was staged by two teams from the top six of the Lithuanian basketball league (Betsafe-LKL).
Panevėžys “7bet-Lietkabelis” (10/5) at home with a decisive shot 86:84 (18:19, 19:27, 23:18, 26:20) beat Jonava’s CBet (8/6).
In the first half the teams were evenly matched, and the second half already belonged to the visitors, who took the lead 40:27 after a triple by Martin Laksa and a foul by Mantas Rubštavičius. Gabrielius Maldūnas, who scored 16 points before the long break, narrowed the difference to some extent – 37:46.
Panevėžys started the third quarter with three points and after the long bomb from Kristians Kullamae, tied the score – 46:46. CBet then stopped the bleeding, but another Estonian shot from distance made it 54-51. Subsequently, the teams exchanged shots which overestimated the result, and at the end of the half the Jonava club took the lead again (64:60), even though Artūras Valeika committed an unsportsmanlike foul against Vytenės Lipkevičius.
Paulius Murauskas took the lead in the fourth quarter, scoring points himself and blocking Goran Huskičius – 72:72. The Serbian scored his first points just two minutes before the match and at the same time changed the score, but P. Murauskas answered him again – 79:78. M. Rubštavičius hit an important three-pointer, but Glynn Watson’s free throws and G. Huskić’s double with 17 seconds left tied the score – 84:84.
The Panevėžys club used all the remaining time for their attack and G. Maldūnas scored the winning points with the last breakthrough.
Jonava’s club, which had a fantastic start to the season, recently fell into a hole, losing its fourth straight game and hasn’t won the LKL since Nov. 28. Meanwhile, in the second match, “7bet-Lietkabelis” successively defeated direct rivals from the tournament table, beating “Wolves” 86:80.
„7bet-Lietkabelis“: Gabrielius Maldūnas 20 (10 rebounds, 10/12 doubles), Kristianas Kullamae 19 (5/9 triples, 4 assists), Paulius Murauskas 11 (5/6 doubles), Jamel Morris and Mantas Rubštavičius 9 each.
“Cbet”: Glynn Watsonas 20 (4/5 three-pointers), Dovis Bičkauskis 17 (3 overs), Jeffery Garrett 13 (7 rebounds, 3 assists), Artūras Valeika 9 (5 rebounds, 4 errors), Edvinas Šeškus 8 (6 shots).
