U18 Lietuvos Rytas picked up its second straight victory at the Euroleague Basketball ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Qualifying Tournament – Kaunas by defeating U18 USK Future Stars Prague 90-63. Matas Jogela led the way for the 2012 continental champion Rytas with 14 points while Grantas Vasiliauskas chipped in 12 points. Paulius Poska added 11 points and Karolis Giedraitis had 10 points as Rytas improved to 2-0 in Group B. Prague dropped to 0-2 despite another strong performance by Jakub Tuma, who collected 22 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Radek Farsky added 15 points and Zdenek Blaha scored 11 points for USK, which was out-rebounded 39-28 and committed 29 turnovers.

Martin Tazky opened the scoring with 2 free throws for USK and Lukas Kisunas hit Rytas’ first two points. Blaha followed with 4 straight points as USK opened a 2-6 lead. Rytas held USK scoreless for nearly 3 minutes while Vasiliauskas nailed 2 three-pointers as the Lithuanian side used a 7-0 spurt to pull ahead for the first time 9-6. Blaha ended the drought but Mantas Cebatorius and Tadas Vaiciunas knocked down back-to-back three-balls as the lead swelled to 15-9. Farsky was able to hit from long range for USK but Jogela also was on target from beyond the three-point stripe to make it 22-16. Tuma’s three-pointer cut the deficit to 22-19 after 10 minutes. Rytas opened the second quarter with the first 7 points to push the advantage into double digits 29-19. Tuma finally got the Czech side on the scoreboard with a three-point play 3 minutes into the quarter. Rytas raced away with a 10-0 run to lead 41-24. Tuma and Farsky combined for 7 points in a 1-7 spurt as USK pulled back to within 42-31. But Rytas scored the final 4 points of the half and led 46-31 at intermission.

Farsky and Tuma scored early in the second half to get the margin down to 48-35 but Vitalijus Kozys nailed a three-pointer and Jogela completed a three-point play as the Rytas lead grew to 56-37. A 4-0 USK spurt was then answered by 8 straight points from Rytas to push the advantage to 64-41. And the Lithuanian side was ahead 68-49 after 30 minutes. Rytas did not let up in the fourth quarter as Giedraitis and Poska drained three-pointers in a 12-2 start to the frame and an 80-51 cushion. USK continued to fight as Farsky picked up a steal and layup and 2 free throws to nudge the gap to 80-55 with 5 minutes to play. Jogela responded with a three-pointer and USK would not get closer than 26 points the rest of the way.