2019-20Regular SeasonRound 10
December 18, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 PALASPORT TALIERCIO

Reyer edges Rytas to tie for regular season's best record

Umana Reyer Venice finished the first round of the 7DAYS EuroCup in style after beating Rytas Vilnius 76-74 at Palasport Taliercio on Wednesday. The Italian champs, who had already secured first place in Group B, tied Segafedo Virtus Bologna for the best winning record in the regular season at 8-2, while Rytas dropped to 4-6 to finish in fourth place. Reyer led the way for almost the entire game, reaching an 11-point difference in the last quarter, but Rytas never gave up and managed to tie the game at 74-74 before a pull-up jumper by Ariel Filloy in the last minute decided the outcome. Stefano Tonut led all scorers with 14 points, while Filloy had 13 and 5 assists and Ike Udanoh contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds for the winners. Martynas Echodas posted 13 points plus 6 rebounds, followed with Deividas Sirvydis and Edmantas Bendzius with 12 and 10 points, respectively, in a losing effort.

The visitors got early three-pointers by Bendzius for a 4-6 lead, but the Italian champs adjusted their defense quickly to prevent any other Rytas player but Evaldas Kayris from contributing on offense. With switching defenses, moving the ball and involving up to six different players in scoring, Reyer was able to build a 21-13 edge at the end of the first quarter. The gap got bigger in the second, as Udanoh capped a nice assist by Davide Casarin with a strong layup for a 27-16 lead. Rytas didn’t surrender, though, and increased its defensive performance to keep Reyer scoreless for almost 5 minutes, good enough to tie the game again, 27-27, with 3 minutes to go in the half. A three-point play by Filloy and a nice fast-break behind-the-back assist from Udanoh to Bruno Cerella got Reyer back in charge, 36-31, but Rytas struck back guided by Echodas to reach halftime trailing 38-36.

Echodas and Arnas Butkevicius gave Rytas its first lead, 38-40, right after the break, while Austin Daye and Pako Cruz traded baskets later to keep the game tight, 46-46. Filloy connected from deep, followed by a nice hook shot by Francesco Pellegrino and a couple of layups by Tonut to put Reyer ahead, 55-48. Rytas timeout didn’t change the trend, as the hosts found unexpected help from unusual contributors Casarin and Pellegrino to finish the third quarter in control 63-54. Pellegrino scored inside for a game-high 11-points lead, but Echodas and Sirvydis combined to spark a 0-8 run to bring Rytas within 65-62. It was Cerella, again, who took over with a three to keep the hosts calm, followed by another bomb from the corner by Valerio Mazzola to make it 71-64 midway through the last quarter. Offensive rebounding and free throws allowed Rytas to stay alive and enter the last 2 minutes down 71-69 until Filloy came to the rescue with a big three for Reyer. Marek Blazevic scored inside before Syrvidis hit a corner three to tie it 74-74 with 1 minute to go, but the cold-blooded Filloy came up big with a pull-up jumper with 48 seconds to go as Bendzius missed the last three-point attempt at the buzzer.

When it matters the most

The Italian champs were not having a good night from the perimeter. They entered the last quarter having hit just a pair of threes, but with the game on the line, Bruno Cerella, Valerio Mazzola and Ariel Filloy nailed consecutive three-pointers to help Reyes collect its eighth straight win.

Coach, we can play

Umana Reyer Venice missed Julyan Stone and Gasper Vidmar, while other regular contributors like Mitchell Watt and Jeremy Chappel saw limited playing time in the game. But it was not a problem in the end, as Davide Casarin, Francesco Pellegrino and Valerio Mazzola, who hadn’t scored a single point this season, ended up combining for 15 points.

Not enough

Rytas Vilnius dominated the offensive glass, grabbing 16 boards against Reyer’s defense and getting a ton of extra possessions. Also, its players drew 26 fouls -against Reyer’s 11- and got 19 more free throw shots, but they couldn’t turn it into a factor to claim the victory.

Next game

Umana Reyer Venezia and Rytas Vilnius will return to 7DAYS EuroCup action when the Top 16 begins in the second week of January.

Ariel Filloy - Umana Reyer Venice (photo Reyer) - EC19
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: PANTHER, ANNE; PETEK, SASO; HALLIKO, AARE
Attendance: 2873
By Quarter1234
Umana Reyer Venice21172513
Rytas Vilnius13231820
End of Quarter1234
Umana Reyer Venice21386376
Rytas Vilnius13365474
Umana Reyer Venice
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 UDANOH, IKE 21:18 10 5/10   0/1 4 3 7 1 1 1   1 3 2 10
3 CASARIN, DAVIDE 13:40 4 2/2 0/1   1   1 3 1 3 1   2   4
6 BRAMOS, MICHAEL 10:54 4 2/3 0/1     3 3   1       1   5
7 TONUT, STEFANO 28:28 14 6/8 0/3 2/2   2 2 3   3     2 1 10
9 DAYE, AUSTIN 14:30 9 3/4 1/2   1 2 3 3 1 2 1   3 2 12
10 DE NICOLAO, ANDREA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 FILLOY, ARIEL 28:27 13 3/6 2/4 1/1   2 2 5 1 3   1 4 4 12
21 CHAPPELL, JEREMY 13:12   0/4 0/1   1 2 3 1             -1
22 MAZZOLA, VALERIO 19:24 3 0/2 1/2   2 3 5 2 2 1     3   5
29 PELLEGRINO, FRANCESCO 14:33 8 4/4       3 3 1     1   2   11
30 CERELLA, BRUNO 25:45 7 2/2 1/4     3 3     1     3   3
50 WATT, MITCHELL 9:49 4 2/4       1 1   1   1   3 2 4
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 76 29/49 5/18 3/4 9 26 35 19 8 14 4 2 26 11 77
        59.2% 27.8% 75%
Head coach: DE RAFFAELE, WALTER
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
Rytas Vilnius
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 SIRVYDIS, DEIVIDAS 23:24 12 4/5 1/2 1/1 2 1 3 3         1 2 17
2 BICKAUSKIS, DOVIS 22:20 2 1/2 0/4 0/1   1 1 3 1 3     2 7 3
5 GIEDRAITIS, KAROLIS 10:35 3 1/4   1/2   2 2         1 2 2  
7 HOLLOWAY, TERRELL 17:40 2 1/3 0/3   1 3 4 1 2 3   1      
9 CRUZ, PAKO 16:15 8 3/5 0/3 2/2   2 2 3 1 1       2 10
11 TUBELIS, AZUOLAS 12:55   0/1 0/1   2 1 3       1       2
14 ECHODAS, MARTYNAS 17:06 13 5/12   3/4 2 4 6 1   1 1 1 1 2 12
18 GIRDZIUNAS, MINDAUGAS 12:07 3 0/2 1/2   1   1     1   1 1   -2
22 BENDZIUS, EIMANTAS 23:41 10   3/5 1/2   3 3           2 2 10
23 BLAZEVIC, MAREK 12:49 8 3/9   2/3 3 3 6 1         1 2 9
32 KAIRYS, EVALDAS 10:05 8 3/5   2/3 3   3     1     1 4 10
51 BUTKEVICIUS, ARNAS 21:03 5 1/2   3/4 2 5 7 2 1 2       3 14
Team           3 1 4     2         2
Totals 200:00 74 22/50 5/20 15/22 19 26 45 14 5 14 2 4 11 26 87
        44% 25% 68.2%
Head coach: ADOMAITIS, DAINIUS

Head Coaches

DE RAFFAELE, WALTER
Umana Reyer Venice
"The most important thing is that all my players were involved in this game, especially those who during this competition had played few minutes and that’s very important, also for young players. It is important that we won this game because it has been the eighth in a row and that’s not only because of just good luck. It’s something for the job the players have done. Now we start a new adventure and we will try to keep the same intensity, but we are very satisfied."

Players

PELLEGRINO, FRANCESCO
Umana Reyer Venice
"I have to say it’s a great emotion for me as it’s the second time I play the EuroCup. I love this game and I think I will dream about this tonight. Our goals are quite high, it was great to end first in this round. We must keep focusing on the next games, on the next stage, which is the big part of this. We hope we are going to improve this and in the [Italian] championship, too."
BICKAUSKIS, DOVIS
Rytas Vilnius
"I don’t know how I was able to make that shot. It was a kind of lucky shot. I saw the big guy coming to me, he fouled me and I just threw up the shot, it was good and it went in."
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