Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius finished just outside the medal positions in the Citadele King Mindaugas Cup (KMT), falling in the bronze medal game to 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys 91-100 (31:23, 18:29, 18:22, 24:26). Lietkabelis secured its fifth bronze in tournament history.

For Wolves Twinsbet, this was their first-ever appearance in the KMT Final Four.

The game started disastrously for Lietkabelis, who failed to score until midway through the first quarter, when Paulius Danusevičius finally got them on the board. By then, Wolves Twinsbet had already built a commanding 12-2 lead. The gap remained in double digits for a while (22-10), but Danusevičius and Oleksandr Kovliar sparked a comeback.

Lietkabelis went on a 10-0 run, tying the game at 39-39 in the second quarter, setting the stage for a tense battle until halftime. Tempers flared, with Alessandro Magro receiving a technical foul, and by the break, Nenad Čanak's squad had taken the lead, 52-49.

After the break, the Panevėžys team gradually took control of the game. Mantas Rubštavičius knocked down a three-pointer, Džordže Gagičius added three more points, and with contributions from Gabrielius Maldūnas and the Ukrainian big man, Lietkabelis stretched their lead to a game-high 72-65. With three minutes left in the quarter, Wolves Twinsbet couldn’t close the gap, trailing 67-74 heading into the final period.

Although ten minutes remained, and the Wolves cut the deficit to 85-87, they couldn’t complete the comeback, allowing Panevėžys to seal the victory.

Anthony Cowan was unavailable for Vilnius, while Jeff Taylor fouled out after just 11 minutes. Matas Jogėla also had to leave the game early due to a leg injury.

For Lietkabelis, Gabrielius Maldūnas logged only 15 minutes before fouling out, while foul trouble limited Grantas Vasiliauskas to 9 minutes and Džordže Gagičius to 16.

Wolves Twinsbet: Tre’Shawn Thurman 28, Marek Blaževič 21 (7 rebounds), Andrew Andrews 14, Kristupas Žemaitis 12, Arnoldas Kulboka 6, Matas Jogėla 4, Jeffery Taylor 3, Garrison Brooks 2, Regimantas Miniotas 1. Justinas Marcinkevičius did not score.

7bet-Lietkabelis: Oleksandr Kovliar 30 (7 assists), Mantas Rubštavičius 17, Dovis Bičkauskis 12.

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(Photo by: Rokas Lukoševičius / LKL)