Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius (16–15) played their first home game at the brand-new Aerottoria Arena, but it did not end in victory. Alessandro Magro’s men fell 89–102 (22–28, 25–14, 26–28, 16–32) to Rytas Vilnius (25–6).

Rytas claimed their third win in four meetings between the teams this season and remain firmly in second place, while Wolves Twinsbet’s closest rivals are 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys (16–15) and CBet Jonava (17–13), the latter currently sitting third.

Rytas opened the game with a 7–0 run, but baskets from Regimantas Miniotas and free throws by Anthony Cowan drew Wolves Twinsbet level at 10–10. Rytas pushed ahead again (19–14) and led 28–22 after the first quarter.

Matas Jogėla returned to the court after recovering from injury. The hosts, fueled by a barrage of three-pointers, seized the initiative at 37–35. However, they couldn’t hold on for long as Artūras Gudaitis restored parity, but the Wolves closed out the second quarter better, 47–42.

After the halftime break, Wolves Twinsbet built a game-high lead (53–44), which soon grew to double digits at 58–48. However, R.J. Cole took matters into his own hands and began to chip away at the deficit (59–63). Still, the hosts responded with more three-pointers and stayed in front, 69–61.

Eventually, the momentum began to shift in favour of the visitors. Giedrius Žibėnas’ men closed the gap and trailed by just 70–73 after three quarters. They started the fourth strong, taking the lead with long-range shots from Margiris Normantas and Parker Jackson-Cartwright – 84–78. Rytas continued to control the game, with Gytis Radzevičius adding free throws to extend the lead to 92–83. Wolves were unable to reignite any intrigue after that.

Returning to the court after more than two months out, Matas Jogėla finished with 5 points in 11 minutes (1/1 2PT, 1/4 3PT), 1 rebound, 1 foul, drew 3 fouls, and collected 5 efficiency points.

Not even Anthony Cowan could save the Wolves – he had 21 points (13/17 FT), 7 assists, and a game-high 27 efficiency index.

Wolves Twinsbet: Anthony Cowan – 21 points (7 assists), Marek Blaževič – 14, Kristupas Žemaitis – 13, Regimantas Miniotas – 11 (8 rebounds), Jeffery Taylor – 9, Tre'Shawn Thurman – 8, Matas Jogėla – 5, Garrison Brooks and Andrew Andrews – 4 each. Arnoldas Kulboka and Justinas Marcinkevičius did not play due to a coach’s decision.

Rytas: R.J. Cole – 23 points, Gytis Radzevičius (9 rebounds) and Margiris Normantas – 14 each.

Coaches’ comments

(Photo by Saulius Čirba)