Lietuvos Rytas crushed Topsportschool VBL Leuven 66-96 to pick up its first victory at Siauliai Nike International Junior Tournament on Thursday. Both teams hold 1-1 record in Group A, and both need a win on Friday with some help from the other game, to advance into the Saturday’s finals. Norbertas Giga led Lietuvos Rytas with 22 points while Edvinas Seskus had 20 plus 8 rebounds. Augustas Suliauskas chipped in with 15, and Gediminas Zalalis finished with 12 in victory. On the other end, Mathijs Gijbels scored 13 for Topsportschool, Vincent Kesteloot had 12, and Glen Camps added 10 in defeat.

Rytas got its first separation near the end of the first quarter with a 0-7 run during which Lukas Motiejunas hit a three-pointer, and a triple from Suliauskas at the start of the second made it 21-30. Sam Hemeleers hit one from downtown for Topsportschool and Kesteloot scored baskets that kept them within range. However, back-to-back triples from Seskus and Lukas Ganas made it a 14-point game, and a layup from Giga gave Rytas 37-51 halftime lead. Lithuanian team put the game away at the start of the third quarter with a 2-17 run that featured 6 more points from Giga and couple of triples from Zalalis. Knowing they need win of 22 points or more to increase their chances of advancing to the finals, Rytas was not slowing down as the margin increased to 32 points before the score was rounded out.