Skucas, Lavrinovic leads Cedevita to second win

Lietkabelis Panevezys remained undefeated in Group A by downing Cedevita Zagreb 76-80 in the Croatian capital on Wednesday. Lietkabelis improved to 2-0, while Cedevita dropped to 0-2. Zygimantas Skucas led the winners with 22 points. Mindaugas Lukauskis and Ksistof Lavrinovic each had 15, while Ben Madgen added 11 for Lietkabelis, which held Cedevita to a 40.4% two-point shooting percentage (21-of-52). Lavrinovic added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Miro Bilan led the hosts with 16 points. Toni Katic added 12 while Karlo Zganec had 11 for Cedevita.

A corner three by Lukauskis and back-to-back jump hooks by Skucas gave Lietkabelis an early 4-9 lead. Luka Babic and Duje Dukan stepped up for Cedevita, but Lukauskis and Skucas kept the guests ahead, 9-15. Bilan followed a mid-range jumper with a slam but he didn't find help around. Meanwhile, a four-point play by Lukauskis, a jumper by Gintaras Leonavicius and a put-back layup by Lavrinovic boosted Lietkabelis's lead to 17-25 after 10 minutes. Consecutive layups by Donatas Tarolis and Lavrinovic made it a double-digit game, 17-29, early in the second quarter. Filip Kruslin struck twice from downtown in a 9-0 run that brought Cedevita back to life at 26-29. Back-to-back triples by Katic and a fast break layup by Dzanan Musa tied it at 34-34. A three-point play by Skucas sparked a 0-12 run in which Lavrinovic had 5 points to put Lietkabelis ahead 37-48 at halftime. A fast break dunk by Scotty Hopson gave the hosts hope, 41-50, soon after the break. Madgen and Lorenzo Williams stepped up for Lietkabelis, but a fast break layup by Babic got Cedevita even closer, 49-56. The guests kept struggling to score, while Bilan and Katic made it 1-point game, 57-58, at the end of the third quarter. A layup by Marko Arapovic put Cedevita back in charge, 59-58, early in the fourth quarter. The hosts entered the foul penalty way too early, however, and Lietkabelis took advantage of that to get a 64-69 edge with less than six minutes left. Cedevita managed to get within 70-72 on a big basket by Milan, but Madgen and Lukauskis struck from downtown for a 70-78 Lietkabelis in the next-to-last minute. Arapovic kept Cedevita as close as 76-78 but a put-back slam by Donatas Tarolis sealed the outcome, 76-80, with 13 seconds left.