Home EuroCup Lietuvos Rytas claim 3rd place after downing Spartak

Lietuvos Rytas claim 3rd place after downing Spartak

Lietuvos Rytas have claimed third place in this season’s Eurocup, as they comfortably defeated previous favourites Spartak St. Petersburg 71-62.

It’s mere consolation though for the Vilnius side, normally so successful in the Eurocup, but they will have to settle for bronze. For Spartak, having lost only once previously, this has been a disappointing end to their European season as the pre-Final Four favourites’ campaign has ended in utter failure.

Having lost yesterday to BC Khimki in a physical encounter, maybe they could be excused for showing up like they did, but Rytas came out and the extra hour-or-so of rest helped, as the stormed out the blocks, leading from tip to buzzer. The Lithuanians came good in the rebounding stat as well, winning it 38-25.

“I don’t think our concentration was the best today,” Spartak guard Patrick Beverley said. “The game of yesterday probably affected us. We were down by 13 or 16 points and then managed to take the lead but ended up losing the game. That was a big mental blow that we couldn’t overcome today.”

Beverley led Spartak in vain with 18 points.

Renaldas Seibutis led the victors with 21 points while Jonas Valanciunas, who was kept quiet in yesterday’s loss to Valencia redeemed himself with a 10 point, 12 rebound double-double. Aleksandar Rasic hit 12 points to add to the scoreline.

“It was a good game for us, we showed a better face,” Rasic commented. “We played another game just 24 hours ago and I am sure that the tough game that Spartak had against Khimki yesterday affected us in a bad way.

“It was nice to finish this tournament with at least one win so we don’t go home empty handed.”

From the opening tip, it was clear who looked more up for it. Rytas raced to a 21-7 lead thanks to good shooting from outside and great team defense at the other end. Aleksey Zozulin hit from deep to put Spartak into double figures, but being down 24-10 after the first quarter was a tough pill to swallow.

The Russian side tried desperately to settle, but Rytas were comfortable, they found openings and most importantly, took advantage of their opportunities.

Spartak managed to win the second quarter 20-16, but the Lithuanians had a 10 point lead at the half (40-30).

With their key man Tyrese Rice injured, it was vital that the back-up players for Rytas performed, and they did, especially in the third and fourth periods, when the game still could of gone either way.

“For us, it’s an important to win without Tyrese Rice because he’s an important player in our game. The kids that stepped in for him, Dovydas Redikas and Steponas Babrauskas, did a good job, so congratulations to them,” Lietuvos Rytas coach Aleksandar Dzikic said.

There was brief hope for the Russians in the third as a steal and resulting lay-up from Beverley reduced the lead to single-digits for the first time since the first quarter, but free-throws from Babrauskas put the lead back up to 11 for Rytas, as the fourth period was played out.

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