2018-19Regular SeasonRound 1
October 02, 2018 CET: 18:00
Local time: 19:00 SIEMENS ARENA

Rytas controls fourth quarter for opening night victory

Two-time champion Rytas Vilnius opened the 7DAYS EuroCup with an 80-72 victory over Unicaja Malaga. Eimantas Bendzius scored 18 points while Evaldas Kairys added 15 points and 6 rebounds for Rytas, which controlled the fourth quarter 26-17. 2017 EuroCup winner Unicaja could not take advantage of 16 points from Mathias Lessort in the Group D defeat. Brian Roberts had 13 points for the visitors, but committed 6 turnovers.

Rytas opened the game with a 9-0 lead before Unicaja answered with a 2-11 spurt to even it at 11-11. Rytas punched right back with a 9-2 surge and led 20-13 after 10 minutes. Bendzius hit two three-pointers as the host’s lead grew to 28-13. Unicaja finished up the first half with a 2-17 run to go up 34-36 at the break. Rytas was held nearly four minutes without a score and Unicaja pulled ahead 36-43. Bendzius’s three-pointers were answered by a number of big scores from Lessort as the scoreboard showed 47-53. But Rytas was down just 54-55 after 30 minutes. The lead changed hands three times early in the fourth quarter before a decisive 12-3 surge gave Rytas a 70-60 lead. Unicaja would not get no closer than 7 points in the final five minutes.

Pivotal Performer

Eimantas Bendzius was a huge factor for Rytas. Not only did he knock down 4 three-pointers in scoring 18 points but he picked up 4 rebounds and 2 assists while helping out on defense with 1 steal and 1 block.

Movers and Shakers

Dominique Sutton also was big for Rytas with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists.

Game Changing

The third quarter saw a great back and forth between Bendzius and Lessort but the momentum of the game changed on a huge dunk by Rytas’ Chris Kramer over Unicaja big man Giorgi Shermandini late in the third quarter.

Next Games

Rytas heads out on the road for its second game in Group D in facing UNICS Kazan. Unicaja meanwhile hosts its first home game in welcoming Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt.

Evaldas Kairys - Rytas Vilnius (photo Rytas) - EC18
Tuesday, October 2, 2018
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: ZAMOJSKI, JAKUB; OBRKNEZEVIC, UROS ; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 5493
By Quarter1234
Rytas Vilnius20142026
Unicaja Malaga13231917
End of Quarter1234
Rytas Vilnius20345480
Unicaja Malaga13365572
Rytas Vilnius
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 SIRVYDIS, DEIVIDAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2 SUTTON, DOMINIQUE 32:00 12 5/9 0/1 2/2 4 5 9 1 4 5   1 4 1 12
3 KRAMER, CHRIS 19:28 2 1/2 0/2     3 3 5 1 2     2 2 6
9 PILAUSKAS, AISTIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 SEELEY, DENNIS 31:40 12 2/5 2/6 2/6   2 2 3 4 2       5 13
13 NORMANTAS, MARGIRIS 1:29   0/1     1   1                
14 ECHODAS, MARTYNAS 14:01 8 4/8     1 1 2         1 4   1
18 GIRDZIUNAS, MINDAUGAS 28:46 7 1/3 1/4 2/2   1 1   1 2     2 3 3
22 BENDZIUS, EIMANTAS 30:14 18 3/6 4/8   1 3 4 2 1   1   3 1 17
23 BLAZEVIC, MAREK DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
25 KAIRYS, EVALDAS 20:27 15 6/8   3/4 4 2 6 3 1 1 1 1 3 7 25
51 BUTKEVICIUS, ARNAS 21:55 6 2/3   2/2 2 2 4 4   2     4 2 9
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 80 24/45 7/21 11/16 15 20 35 18 12 14 2 3 22 21 89
        53.3% 33.3% 68.8%
Head coach: ADOMAITIS, DAINIUS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Unicaja Malaga
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 OKOUO, VINY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 FERNANDEZ, JAIME 21:05 2 1/4       2 2 2 1 2   1 2   -1
9 DIAZ, ALBERTO 12:20 4 1/1 0/1 2/2           2     2 2 1
10 SALIN, SASU 12:15 2   0/1 2/2 1 1 2     1     2 3 3
11 DIEZ, DANIEL 13:43 3   1/1     2 2 1           1 7
12 MILOSAVLJEVIC, DRAGAN 8:17 2 1/3       1 1               1
17 SHERMADINI, GIORGI 15:35 8 1/1   6/8   3 3 1   2 1   1 5 13
21 WACZYNSKI, ADAM 27:34 9 2/3 1/4 2/2 1 2 3 3 1       3 1 10
22 ROBERTS, BRIAN 24:50 13 2/4 2/3 3/4   3 3 1 2 6   1 3 2 7
26 LESSORT, MATHIAS 24:21 16 7/8   2/3   1 1   2 2 1   4 4 16
33 WILTJER, KYLE 24:01 9 2/4 1/6 2/2   1 1 3     1   2 2 7
43 SUAREZ, CARLOS 15:59 4 2/2 0/1 0/2 1 4 5 1   1     2 2 6
Team           3 3 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 72 19/30 5/17 19/25 6 23 29 12 6 17 3 2 21 22 75
        63.3% 29.4% 76%
Head coach: CASIMIRO, LUIS

Head Coaches

ADOMAITIS, DAINIUS
Rytas Vilnius
"I think this is a great win, especially being our first game at home against such a good team as Unicaja. I am really happy for the guys; they made a really good effort in such a situation, in specific situations. They had great concentration during the game, it was at the highest level. Lastly, I want to thank our fans. They made the difference in some moments, pushing for us when it was tough. It is a big win for all of us, our fans and the club."
CASIMIRO, LUIS
Unicaja Malaga
"During the game, we didn't dominate the rebounds. We allowed them easy baskets during the game and didn't play with the intensity required. It is an excuse, it is possible that our players were very tired, but I only think about what happens on the court. We needed a stronger mentality to play our first EuroCup game."

Players

SEELEY, DENNIS
Rytas Vilnius
"Defense allowed us to win the game. Defense and pushing in transition, this is what we worked on in practice, that helped us a lot - and rebounding, also. Getting the [Chris Kramer on Giorgi Shermadini] dunk was a momentum booster. In games like this, you go up and down, but we played defense all game. It was a defensive game and we couldn't make shots in the first half, but came out and made them when we needed to. We played some small ball and it worked, switching it up and bringing it out to the perimeter."
WILTJER, KYLE
Unicaja Malaga
"It was tough. We turned the ball over a lot and it makes it tough on our defense. Even though we lost the game tonight, we have to move on and get ready for the next couple of games, because they are very important. We just needed to take care of the basketball and play better defense. We were a step slow, not reacting as we are supposed to, making them feel the pressure. We had good moments in the game, but there was a stretch in the third quarter when we gave up a lot of easy points."