Lietkabelis erases 20-point deficit to beat Ulm

Lietkabelis Panevezys erased a 20-point deficit to beat ratiophram Ulm 81-86 in both teams final EuroCup game for the season. Lietkabelis improved to 2-4 after a sweep of Ulm to finish third in Group F in its first season in the competition. Ulm fell to 0-6. Darjus Lavrinovic and Ben Madgen scored 20 points each and Gintaras Leonavicius added 17 to lead the winners. Lorenzo Williams dished 8 assists for Lietkabelis to help the team make 13 of 25 three-point shots (52%). Chris Babb and Raymar Morgan paced Ulm with 13 points apiece, Da’Sean Butler scored 11 and Marcell Pongo had 10 in defeat. Ulm outrebounded Lietkabelis 33-21, but made only 16 of 29 free throws (55.2%).

The hosts took charge from the start with the game’s first three baskets. Leonavicius kept Lietkabelis in the picture, but a Braydon Hobbs triple gave Ulm its first double-digit lead at 18-7. The lead continued to grow as Babb and Butler added three with the margin hitting 34-18 after 10 minutes. A pair of Jonas Wohlfarth put-backs made it a 20-point game at 43-23. Darjus Lavrinovic scored 5 points in a 0-12 run that got the visitors back in the game at 47-43. Bjoern Rohwer split free throws to give Ulm a 50-45 halftime lead. Back-to-back threes by Darjus Lavrinovic and Leonavicius drained back-to-back threes early in the second half to complete the comeback and tie the game at 52-52 before Zygimantas Skucas gave Lietkabelis its first lead of the game. After Ulm went back ahead, Ksistof Lavrinovic free throws narrowed the difference to 67-64 through three quarters. Pongo connected from downtown to extend the Ulm margin to 6, but Lietkabelis came back with a 0-11 run, which was bookended by threes from Leonavicius and Tada Rinkunas to lead 75-80 with three minutes to play. Baskets by Babb and Butler got Ulm within 81-82 inside the last minute, but Madgen made 3 free throws over the next two possessions and Ulm missed its last three shots to end the game.