Neptunas Klaipeda holds off Jerusalem

Neptunas Klaipeda took a huge step towards the Last 32 with an 87-85 victory over Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem on Tuesday evening at Svyturio Arena. The visitors stormed back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit to make a game of it late, but Josh Duncan’s tip that would have tied it was ruled to be after the final buzzer and Neptunas walked away with a victory that lifted it to 4-3 in Group F, while dropping Jerusalem to 2-5. Daniel Ewing paced Neptunas with 20 points, while Harvey Grant added 15, Travis Bader 14 and Donatas Zavackas and Martynas Mazeika scored 10 each. D’Or Fischer paced Jerusalem with 26 points, E.J. Rowland added 15 points and 6 assists, Donta Smith posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and Matt Janning scored 12 in defeat.

Janning opened the scoring with a three-pointer before Ewing’s 4 points put the hosts on top. The lead changed hands a few times as Fischer got involved for Jerusalem and Ewing connected from downtown. Grant gave Neptunas a 13-7 lead, however Janning’s second three closed the gap to 1. Neptunas went on a 10-2 surge in which Zavackas scored half the points to take a 27-16 lead after 10 minutes. Vytautas Sarakauskas opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and when Bader hit from downtown, the difference was 19. The teams started to trade baskets with Fischer closing the gap to 42-27. Grant and Ewing kept the hosts rolling and the lead reached 19 again before Janning’s third three and Rowland’s steal and layup made it 51-37 at halftime.

Threes by Zavackas and Mazeika helped Neptunas extend the lead to 18, but a basket-plus-foul by Bar Timor and a Janning jumper drew Jerusalem within 57-44. Mazeika kept Neptunas in control, though Smith and Fischer assisted to each other as Jerusalem closed the gap. Fischer scored the last basket of the third quarter to make it 68-58. Rowland made it an 8-point game to start the fourth quarter before Grant responded with a three-point play. However Fischer and Smith got the visitors within 71-64 with seven minutes to play. Mazeika hit a three to restore a double-digit advantage, however Rowland responded in kind. Rowland and Ewing traded big shots, but time was running out for Jerusalem. Duncan’s three-pointer made it 80-74 with three minutes to go. And Smith silenced the crown when he went coast to coast for a layup and foul. Arnas Butkevicius’s basket-plus-foul and Ewing free throws seemed to seal it, but Smith’s put-back and a 5-second violation gave Jerusalem the ball again down 3 with 17 seconds left. A free throw contest developed, with Neptunas blinking first when Zavackas split shots to make it a 2-point game with 7.1 seconds remaining. Rowland missed a layup in the closing seconds and Duncan’s tip-in to tie it was ruled to be after the buzzer.