The Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius (11-6) ended the second round of the Betsafe-LKL with a defeat in the Vilnius derby. Alessandro Magro's side lost 84-88 (22:25, 21:18, 18:25, 20:23) to Rytas (15-3).
Next week, the Wolves will compete in the Citadele King Mindaugas Cup (Citadele KMT) Final Four.
After a slow start, both teams gained momentum, and Rytas led 16-13 before the time-out. Soon after, they extended their lead to 25-19, but the hosts managed to halve the deficit, ending the first quarter at 22-25.
In the second quarter, both teams relied on their Lithuanian duos to push ahead: for Wolves Twinsbet, it was Arnoldas Kulboka and Marek Blaževič, while for Rytas, it was Ąžuolas Tubelis and Margiris Normantas. The game remained intense up until the halftime buzzer, and with just seconds to spare, Anthony Cowan created an "and 1" play, bringing the game level at 43-43.
Fueled by a few successful plays from Martynas Paliukėnas, Rytas opened the third quarter with a 7-point run (50-43). Shortly after, the margin reached double digits for the first time (56-45). Kristupas Žemaitis, who entered the game successfully, gave a strong boost to Wolves Twinsbet (57-59), but the end of the quarter belonged to the Lithuanian champions, with the score at 68-61.
In the decisive fourth quarter, a three-point shooting show took place – both teams traded accurate long-range shots, but Rytas still had the upper hand with just a few minutes remaining (84-79). The nominal home team didn’t give up, and after Tre’Shawn Thurman’s free throws, only 2 points separated the teams (84-86), but there were only 10 seconds left. After a timeout, R.J. Cole stepped up to the free-throw line for Rytas, and with steady hands, he made his free throws (88-84), sealing the victory for the black-and-white-reds.
For the Wolves Twinsbet, the most valuable player was A. Cowan – the American scored 14 points, dished out 8 assists, and earned 22 efficiency points. Key contributions also came from A. Kulboka and M. Blaževič. Kulboka led the team with 19 points (4/8 from three) and earned 18 efficiency points, while Blaževič continued his strong run with 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 17 efficiency points.
The Wolves played without Andrew Andrews, Vaidas Kariniauskas, and Daniel Baslyk.
Wolves Twinsbet: Arnoldas Kulboka 19, Marek Blaževič, Anthony Cowan, and Matas Jogėla 14 each, Tre’Shawn Thurman 10, Kristupas Žemaitis 7, Garrison Brooks and Jeffery Taylor 3 each. Regimantas Miniotas did not score, and Justinas Marcinkevičius did not play due to the coach’s decision.
Rytas: Margiris Normantas 20, Ąžuolas Tubelis 18, Ignas Sargiūnas 11.
(Photo by Saulius Čirba)