2016-17Regular SeasonRound 7
November 23, 2016 CET: 18:00
Local time: 19:00 CIDO ARENA
Mindaugas Lukauskis - Lietkabelis Panevezys - EC16 (photo Lietkabelis - Karolio Kavolelio)

Cedevita holds off Lietkabelis to secure Top 16 ticket

Cedevita Zagreb punched its Top 16 ticket by registering its fourth consecutive win, holding off previously-qualified Lietkabelis Panevezys on the road 68-69 on Wednesday night. Cedevita improved to 4-2 in Group A, while Lietkabelis dropped to 3-3, however, Lietkabelis holds a potential tiebreak advantage over the Croatian champs due to its 4-point win in Round 2 in Zagreb. Cedevita led by as many as 14 points in the third quarter, but the hosts tied the game in the fourth quarter before Marko Tomas and Marko Arapovic scored key baskets in the final minute. Tomas finished with a EuroCup career-best 23 points on 4-for-8 three-point shooting. Arapovic collected 11 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists and Luka Babic scored 10 in victory. Ksistof Lavrinovic scored 16 for the hosts, Ben Madgen netted 15 with 9 rebounds and Mindaugas Lukauskis scored 10 in defeat.

Veteran Lukauskis hit a triple early and dished 3 assists, the last one to fellow vet Ksistof Lavrinovic, whose triple made it 14-9. However, the visitors took the lead before the end of first quarter and remained ahead 16-17 at the start of the second. With six different players scoring, including a triple each from Arapovic and Tomas to make it 28-34, and the visitors even increased the margin to 32-39 at halftime. With baskets from Babic and Arapovic, and another three from Tomas, Cedevita pulled away to 34-46 early in the third quarter, and point guard Toni Katic increased the margin to 14 points midway through the quarter. A triple from Donatas Tarolis – his only basket of the night - sparked a run that got the hosts within 48-53 after 30 minutes. Cedevita briefly restored a 10-point margin in the fourth, but Lietkabelis was not going away. With aggressive defense that helped force turnovers, and by pulling down offensive rebounds, the hosts cut the deficit, before a triple from Lukauskis and baseline jumper from Ksistof Lavrinovic tied things at 59-59 with less than four minutes remaining. Babic got Cedevita back in front, and after Tomas and Madgen traded threes, Cedevita entered the final minute up 62-64. Arapovic scored a circus shot for a three-point play to get some breathing room for the visitors, but Madgen answered with another three. On the ensuing trip down the floor, Miro Bilan and Babic secured a key offensive rebound, and Tomas sealed the deal with free throws 8.5 seconds before the final buzzer.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: BISSANG, JOSEPH; KOWALSKI, MARCIN; BAUMANIS, INGUS
Attendance: 4415
By Quarter1234
Lietkabelis Panevezys16161620
Cedevita Zagreb17221416
End of Quarter1234
Lietkabelis Panevezys16324868
Cedevita Zagreb17395369
Lietkabelis Panevezys
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MADGEN, BEN 29:23 15 2/6 3/6 2/2 3 6 9 1   1   1 2 3 17
3 TAROLIS, DONATAS 12:20 3   1/2     1 1 1   1       1 4
4 AUKSTIKALNIS, LUKAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 WILLIAMS, LORENZO 24:28 5 1/1 1/5     1 1 5 3 1     1 3 11
6 RINKUNAS, TADAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 LAVRINOVIC, DARJUS 6:38   0/2       1 1 1 2         1 3
8 LUKAUSKIS, MINDAUGAS 31:32 10 2/6 2/7     2 2 4 2 1     2 1 7
9 LEONAVICIUS, GINTARAS 19:41 2 1/2 0/3     1 1 2 3 3 1 1 1 1 1
10 JANAVICIUS, ZYGIMANTAS 15:32 5 2/3 0/2 1/3   1 1   1 2     2 2  
12 LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF 23:27 16 4/6 1/2 5/6   3 3   2 2     5 5 15
21 GALDIKAS, SIMAS 9:11 4 1/1   2/2 1 1 2 1   2     5 1 1
50 SKUCAS, ZYGIMANTAS 27:48 8 4/7 0/3   5 1 6 2   1 1   2 1 9
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 68 17/34 8/30 10/13 11 19 30 17 13 14 2 2 20 19 71
        50% 26.7% 76.9%
Head coach: MAKSVYTIS, KAZYS
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
Cedevita Zagreb
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 JAMES, RASHAD 13:05 5 2/6 0/1 1/2 2 1 3 1 2 2   1 2 2 2
2 KRUSLIN, FILIP 14:59   0/1 0/1     1 1 1 1 2     3   -4
6 KATIC, TONI 23:21 2 1/1       1 1 2   4     1 2 2
9 BABIC, LUKA 35:03 10 4/5 0/3 2/2 2 4 6 2 1 2 1   1 3 16
11 ZGANEC, KARLO 6:19 2 1/1             1       1 1 3
13 MUSA, DZANAN 5:31 2 1/1 0/1     1 1 1             3
15 BILAN, MIRO 27:00 9 4/7   1/3 1 7 8 3   3   1 2 3 12
24 SHURNA, JOHN 11:10   0/1 0/1             1     3   -6
25 BEGIC, MIRZA 13:00 5 2/4   1/2 2 2 4     3 1   3 1 2
33 TOMAS, MARKO 28:01 23 4/8 4/8 3/4 1 2 3 1 2 5     2 5 18
35 ARAPOVIC, MARKO 22:31 11 3/3 1/1 2/2 1 5 6 3   1     1 3 21
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 69 22/38 5/16 10/15 10 27 37 14 7 23 2 2 19 20 73
        57.9% 31.3% 66.7%
Head coach: MRSIC, VELJKO

Head Coaches

MAKSVYTIS, KAZYS
Lietkabelis Panevezys
"I'm not happy with my team’s performance in offence and in defense. It was a points race and we lost. We have a spot in the next round, so maybe our players were a little bit relaxed. At the end of the game, we had a chance to win, but the players started to play as individuals and not by our system and tried to be a hero of the game."
MRSIC, VELJKO
Cedevita Zagreb
"It was a tough game because there were too many mistakes on both sides. We controlled the game and had a solid lead, but made too many mistakes at the end and Lietkabelis came back. I understand my players because we played without Pierre Jackson who was our leader. It was an important game because we secured a spot in the next round. Lietkabelis showed that they are a good team and deserve their spot in the EuroCup and [Lithuanian League]."

Players

LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF
Lietkabelis Panevezys
"Unfortunately we lost a tough game. We were down, but we managed to come back in the game and had a chance to win. One missed shot and one ball decided who was the winner and loser. Now we will go to Russia and next week try to win the game."
ARAPOVIC, MARKO
Cedevita Zagreb
"It was hard game. Lietkabelis is a good team with good players. At the end they started to press on the whole court and playing was very hard because their defense was amazing. We were up by 10 points, but they back and had a chance to win. Lietkabelis proved what a good team they are."
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