Another Lithuanian Basketball League (Betsafe-LKL) quarterfinal match-up will take place after BC Neptūnas defeated Wolves Twinsbet at home 95:76 (30:23, 23:23, 26:10, 16:20). With this win, the Klaipėda club ended a five-game losing streak.
The series is now tied at 1:1, with the deciding Game 3 to be played in the Lithuanian capital on Saturday, May 18.
The match started evenly up until Deividas Gailius' three-pointer gave Klaipėda a 5-point advantage - 12:7. Ažuolas Tubelis added on to the lead (16:9) despite the scoring efforts of Eigirdas Žukauskas for the other side. A pair of three-pointers from Rasheed Sulaimon cut the deficit of Wolves Twinsbet (18:20), but the hosts remained in pole position at the end of the first quarter - 30:23.
Žygimantas Janavičius of BC Neptūnas played just 2 minutes before heading to the locker room after suffering an apparent shoulder injury.
Tim Lambrecht began the second quarter with two three-pointers to extend the gap - 36-23. Wolves forward E.Žukauskas ended his club's scoring drought with another trey, keeping Vilnius within single digits - 34:42. Ą.Tubelis continued to pace Klaipėda’s offense, giving his team a 53:46 lead after two quarters.
The Wolves trimmed the deficit after halftime (50:55), but Joshua Newkirk, Ignas Sargiūnas, Ą.Tubelis, D.Gailius and Mindaugas Girdžiūnas righted the ship for BC Neptūnas with a scoring run to erect a 68:54 advantage. With 3 minutes left in the quarter, Wolves Twinsbet trailed 56:79 - seemingly unable to find a way to stop their opponents. The visitors from Vilnius managed to score only 10 points in the third canto.
In the final quarter, BC Neptūnas built a sizable lead of 86:60 and controlled the game, crushing Wolves Twinsbet in Game 2 and hanging on to this series-tying win.
Wolves Twinsbet: Eigirdas Žukauskas 20, Rasheed Sulaimon 15, Artūrs Žagars 12, Tre'Shawn Thurman 9, Jeffery Taylor 8, Christian Mekowulu 5, Regimantas Miniotas 4, Vitalijus Kozys 2, Vaidas Kariniauskas 1. Kristupas Žemaitis and Arnas Beručka both played but were held scoreless.
BC Neptūnas: Ažuolas Tubelis 17, Ignas Sargiūnas 15, Joshua Newkirk and Tim Lambrecht - 12 each.
(Photo: Matas Baranauskas)