Erik Murphy was extra motivated to stand out in Fraport Skyliners Frankfurt's 7DAYS EuroCup game at Rytas Vilnius. The Finnish-American scored a career-high 21 points in a 61-70 victory just days after he was called out by his head coach Gordon Herbert.

The Skyliners coach was clearly disappointed with how Murphy and his Finland international teammate Shawn Huff played despite the team's 88-83 overtime in the German League last Saturday. "Our two Finns were ice-fishing somewhere in northern Finland, I think," Herbert said after the duo combined for 14 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 turnovers in nearly 31 minutes.

Against Rytas, Murphy came off the bench after a slow start by the Skyliners and collected 8 points and 2 rebounds in his first 1 minute 24 seconds on the court! By halftime, he had already scored 18 points. In the end, Murphy nailed 4 three-points and grabbed 9 rebounds to finish with a 24 performance index rating. For his part, Huff added 2 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.

With a 2-1 record in Group D, the Skyliners are now going fishing for a spot in the Top 16.