Andorra uses late run to defeat Lietkabelis
MoraBanc Andorra picked up a crucial victory in the fight for the Top 16 by pulling away late and defeating Lietkabelis Panevezys 76-66 in Group C. Andorra used a 13-0 fourth-quarter run to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 2-3. Tyson Perez paced the home side with 16 points while Jeremy Senglin collected 13 points. Lietkabelis couldn’t take advantage of a career-high 23 points from Kyle Vinales in dropping to 1-4. Margiris Normantas added 12 points and Marin Maric chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds.
Vinales's free throw opened the scoring with Andorra getting the next 4 points. Normantas and Perez each had 5 points for their teams as Andorra built a 13-8 cushion. It was then Vinales's turn with 6 straight points in a 0-9 run over more than 4 minutes in helping Lietkabelis surge ahead 13-17. The visitors led 15-19 after 10 minutes. Senglin hit a triple and David Jelinek converted 3 foul shots as the game was even at 23-23 early in the second quarter. Maric answered with 5 points for a 26-30 Lietkabelis lead. Clevin Hannah’s 3 free throws gave the hosts the lead again, but the back and forth continued with Gabrielius Maldunas dunking off a steal to make it 33-34. The lead changed hands three more times with Perez giving the hosts a 39-38 advantage at the break.
After nine lead changes in the first half, there were four more in the first 4 minutes of the second half. Normantas's three-point play followed by Palsson free throws made it 46-45. That started a 9-0 run that included 5 points from Perez for a 53-45 cushion. Jelinek’s three-pointer extended the gap to 56-47. The hosts made it 58-52 through three quarters. Tomasz Gielo's three-pointer to start the fourth quarter pushed the margin to 61-52. Vinales continued his strong game with 5 points to trim the deficit to 63-59. But Lietkabelis lost its rhythm on offense and was held scoreless for more than 4 minutes while Senglin and Hannah combined for 10 points in a 13-0 run for a 76-59 cushion with 2 minutes to play. The visitors tallied the final 7 points of the game, but the hole was much too deep to come back from.
Pivotal performer
Babatunde Olumuyiwa was a major factor in the win despite only playing 18:31 minutes. He amassed 8 points on 3-of-4 shooting and sank both of his free throws. He also tallied 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Shutting down Masiulis
Andorra did an excellent job shutting down Gytis Masiulis, who scored 26 points in Round 4 and 25 points combined in Rounds 2 and 3. But the 22-year-old connected on just 2 of 10 shots for 8 points, though he did grab 11 rebounds, including 5 on the offensive glass.
Telling numbers
Lietkabelis had a nightmare performance from long range, connecting on only 3 of 27 three-point shots (11.1%). Andorra also punished Lietkabelis for its mistakes with a 17-10 advantage on points off turnovers despite the hosts committing 14 turnovers to 11 for Lietkabelis.
Next games
Andorra will head back on the road in Round 6 to face AS Monaco on Wednesday, November 4. Lietkabelis faces a tough road game against Virtua Segafredo Bologna on the same evening.
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Eurocupbasketball.com