Lietkabelis beats Slask again

Lietkabelis Panevezys took an important step toward the 7DAYS EuroCup knock-out rounds by downing Slask Wroclaw 88-65 at Cido Arena on Tuesday. Lietkabelis improved to 5-5 in Group A and has a 2-0 record against Slask, which dropped to 1-9. Panagiotis Kalaitzakis paced the winners with 18 points, Vytenis Lipkevicius added 16, Djordje Gagic had 14 and Dovydas Giedraitis 10 for Lietkabelis. Kodi Justice led Slask with 13 points and Aleksander Dziewa and Jakub Karolak each had 11 for the guests. Kalaitzakis stepped up early, getting help from Dovydas Giedraitis and Lipkevicius to give Lietkabelis a 29-19 margin at the end of the first quarter. Kalaitzakis remained on fire as Lietkabelis buried 9 first-half three-pointers for a 50-38 halftime advantage. Little changed after the break, as Gagic and Dovydas Giedraitis helped Lietkabelis extend the margin to 20 after 30 minutes as the hosts cruised until the final buzzer.

Dovydas Giedraitis got Lietkabelis going with a put-back basket and fed Kalaitzakis for a fastbreak layup. Kaspars Berzins struck from downtown, prompting Slask to call timeout at 7-0. Ivan Ramljak stepped up with a three-point play, but Kalaitzakis and Kristupas Zemaitis each buried one from beyond the arc to make it a double-digit game, 13-3. Justice buried a triple and Dziewa added a three-point play for the visitors. Gagic and Dovydas Giedraitis kept the hosts in control, 20-9. Lipkevicius followed a coast-to-coast layup with a three-pointer to break the game open, 25-9. Michal Gabinski and Karolak each buried a triple to get Slask closer, 29-19, after 10 minutes.

Karolak kept pacing Slask with a backdoor layup early in the second quarter and Justice hit a wide-open three-pointer that caused Lietkabelis to stop the game at 29-24. Lipkevicius and Grantas Vasiliauskas each struck from downtown in an 8-0 run that Berzins capped with a layup for a 37-24 score. Langevine dunked in traffic and Travis Trice nailed a step-back jumper, but Berzins and an unstoppable Kalaitzakis boosted the hosts' lead to 45-31. Dovydas Giedraitis nailed one from beyond the arc and Vasiliauskas added a layup, but Dziewa and Gabinski got Slask within 50-38 at halftime.

Kalaitzakis beat the shot clock with an acrobatic floater soon after the break and erased Justice's triple with his own shot from downtown for a 55-41 Lietkabelis lead. Dziewa stepped up for Slask, but Gagic gave the hosts a 60-43 advantage. Ramljak took over with back-to-back layups before Vasiliauskas and Dovydas Giedraitis put Lietkabelis fully in charge, 65-47. Kalaitzakis ignited the crowd with a layup off a steal to fix the score at 67-47 after 30 minutes.

Dziewa scored in the low post early in the fourth quarter. Karolis Giedraitis found his first points, Martins Meiers downed a baseline jumper and Vasiliauskas gave Lietkabelis a 71-51 cushion with 7 minutes left. Zemaitis sank a three-pointer from the top of the key that sealed the outcome. Lietkabelis kept pushing, however, as Lipkevicius followed one from beyond the arc with a reverse layup that made it 79-51 after a 10-0 run. Szymon Tomczak scored twice down low and Justice dunked, but it was too little, too late.

Lietkabelis keeps delivering from downtown

Lietkabelis Panezevys used its excellent shooting selection to beat Slask Wroclaw 88-65 in Round 10 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season. Lietkabelis buried 13 of 29 shots from downtown (44.8%) and limited Slask to just 7 of 25 attempts (28.0%). At halftime, Lietkabelis had buried 9 of 18 three-pointers to get a 50-38 margin. Lietkabelis remains unstoppable from beyond the arc in 2022. In Round 9, Lietkabelis set a new club record by burying 19 three-point shots in a 96-89 home victory against Boulogne Metropolitans 92. Kaspars Berzins and Dovydas Giedraitis each made 5 three-pointers and Kristupas Zemaitis struck 4 times from downtown. Before the last two games, the club's previous record was 14 three-pointers against Partizan NIS Belgrade earlier this season - in Round 5.

Lipkevicius shines again for Lietkabekis

At age 32 and at the prime of his career, swingman Vytenis Lipkevicius is showing no signs of slowing down and proved it in Lietkabelis Panevezys's 88-65 victory against Slask Wroclaw. Lipkevicius came off the bench and helped Lietkabelis in many ways, finishing the game with 16 points on near-perfect shooting; he made 2 of 2 two-pointers, 3 of 4 three-pointers and 3 of 3 free throws. He added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal for a PIR of team-high 20. In his second EuroCup season with Lietkabelis, Lipkevicius is averaging 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists for a PIR average of 13.6.

Lietkabelis's win adds value to old record

With its 88-65 win against Slask Wroclaw in Round 10 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Regular Season, Lietkabelis Panevezys allowed Lithuanian squads to remain undefeated at home against Polish teams in the two top continental competitions, the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and the 7DAYS EuroCup. Zalgiris Kaunas protected its home floor in all five games against Polish teams - four times against Prokom Trefl Sopot and once against Stelmet Zielona Gora. Rytas Vilnius also downed Prokom both in EuroLeague and EuroCup action, and also defeated Slask and Turow Zgorzelec in the EuroCup. With Lietkabelis's win, Lithuanian teams are 10-0 at home against Polish squads.