Lietuvos Rytas outguns Limoges

Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius overpowered Limoges CSP 93-76 on Tuesday evening at Siemens Arena to move into a tie for third place in Group C. The result left both teams with identical 2-3 records at the midway point of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season. After falling behind early, the hosts used a 13-0 first-quarter run to take the lead for good. Limoges stayed within striking into the third quarter, but the margin hit 18 early in the fourth and the outcome was never again in doubt. Rokas Giedraitis scored 20 points off the bench to pace the winners and Travis Peterson added 19. Loukas Mavrokefalidis and Jimmy Baron netted 14 points apiece and Martynas Echodas 10, while Chris Kramer dished 6 assists. Kenny Hayes paced Limoges with 16 points, Axel Bouteille posted 15 points, 4 assists and 3 steals and Brian Conklin scored 11 before fouling out.

Limoges got threes on its first two possessions – including a 4-point play by Josh Carter – to lead 2-7. Some hot shooting by Baron brought Rytas right back to 11-12. The hosts kept the momentum as four different players scored in a 13-0 run to take a 21-12 advantage. Jean-Frederic Morency ended the Limoges drought, but Peterson scored 5 in a row for Rytas’s first double-digit lead. A Morency triple ended the first quarter at 28-19. Giedraitis’s steal and slam pushed the Rytas lead to 35-21. Five different Limoges players scored in a 0-10 response to bring the visitors right back. Giedraitis’s steal and slam off an inbounds pass provided a highlight, but Bouteille’s triple drew the visitors within 39-36. Rytas produced the next 6 points, but Hayes hit a three to end the half at 45-39.

A three by Peterson and slam by Mavrokefalidis restored a double-digit lead for Rytas early in the second half. Bouteille made sure Limoges stayed close; his assist to Brian Conklin for a jumper made it 53-49. However a pair of Peterson assists to young Echodas pushed the margin back to 10. Baron scored 5 points in one minute as the lead grew and reached 69-53 through three quarters. The lead peaked at 18 on Giedraitis free throws to start the fourth quarter. Limoges showed plenty of fight in the remaining minutes and Josh Carter made a three to close the gap to 73-64 with six minutes remaining. However a Giedraitis triple pushed the difference back to 14 and Rytas held on the rest of the way.