Lietuvos Ritas managed to snatch the win at a road game versus Panathinaikos in the OAKA indoor arena by final 67-68 in views of Euroleague Top16 day 5.
Teams went hand in hand throughout most of the game’s duration, Panathinaikos however always having a light superlative over its guest for the greatest part of the encounter; Superlative though it was unable to turn it to any kind of a safety distance, as it lacked endurance. The Lithuanians started off as the better opponent mounting a 6 point cushion in the first quarter (12-18 at 6’15’’, 14-20 at 7’15’’). The greens enforced a come-back to +3 (30-27, 14’45’’) and headed towards the locker rooms behind 39-34 half time score, only to up the ante to 7 slightly later (43-36, 22’20’’). They held fast to the lead, nevertheless Lietuvos Ritas managed to perform a come-back in the game and tied (55-55 at 33’20’’). A 4-0 run gave first say on the floor back to Panathinaikos (59-55, 34’27’’), but bad three point shooting range and rebounds easily picked up by its opponent kept wounding the clover. Aleksandar Trifunovic saw his team draw again (61-61, 36’40’’) behind a three from Brad Newley, same scenario played out next as the guests tied again to 63-63 (37’30’’), same culprit acting and finally Lietuvos Ritas took the lead for the first time after 11’ at 37’45’’, praise to one of a pair of free throws off Darryl Strawberry. Newley stroke again to 63-66 (38’40’’), Batiste picked up the trail back to 65-66 (38’50’’). 7’’7 pending on the game clock Panathinaikos managed to lead as Dimitris Diamantidis scored perfect from the line, captain of the clover getting his team up by 1 (67-66). Alas a foul charged to Milenko Tepic, 3’’ left to be palyed out on the court, presented Khalid El-Amin with a trip to the line, from which he scored to 67-68, final game score as Drew Nicholas missed the buzzer beater to prevalence.
Referees: Hierrezuelo, Jovcic, Chiari
Quarters: 20-23, 39-34, 53-48, 67-68
Panathinaikos (Obradovic): Tepic 6, Perperoglou 8, Batiste 11, Fotsis 8, Sato 2, Nicholas 10, Tsartsaris 7, Diamantidis 8 (7as), Vougioukas 1, Calathes, Kaimakoglou 6
Lietuvos Ritas (Trifunovic): Babrauskas 1, Strawberry 5, Bjelica 10, Gecevicius 3, Valanciunas 6, Newley 16, Jomants, Nalga 5, Jasaitis 4, El-Amin 11, Bajramovic 7
Obradovic: “We must believe in ourselves”
Zeljko Obradovic spoke about the encounter of Panathinaikos versus Lietuvos Ritas, held in Euroleague Top16 day 5.
“It was only fair for Lietuvos to win. It started off feisty and aggressive since tip-off and continued illustrating greater will and maturity. We had stated that defense would be an important element for the win, but in the first quarter our opponents scored 23 points and gathered many offensive rebounds. We improved in the second quarter, in the third quarter I tried to refresh the team and offer game time to everyone, a very important issue. In the end we had very poor shooting stats even though the shots were made under good conditions, while another problem was all the offensive boards (10) they got too, whilst we on the other had gathered only 4 defensive ones. What I tried to explain to my players was that if you don’t fight, if you are not competitive and do not perform as a team you simply can’t win. Seven days ago we had the situation in our hands with two games in OAKA. Now the situation is very difficult. We must believe in ourselves and prove to have character in order to prevail in Malaga . We must believe in ourselves”.
On the other hand, Head Coach of Lietuvos Ritas, Aleksandar Trifunovic sated: “Congratulations to my players for their performance, the attitude and their morality. We became better by the day and are an antagonistic team in the Top16. Today we believed we could win. Not like the game in Vilnius where in the third quarter we stopped playing. It was obvious how much we wanted to win if one sees the amount of offensive boards we gathered. It was what boosted our confidence. The game was defined ultimately by a single shot; it is the second time we win such a game (the game with Caja Laboral had been won in such a fashion), something that proves that we are maturing. Anything goes in the group something that proves that the team is getting better and better”.
*Mike Batiste needed 1 defensive rebound to become the fifth all-time Euroleague player to reach 600. Across from Liteuvos Ritas he gathered 5 thus accumulating 604.
*Dimitris Diamantidis needs only 4 assists in order to become the 7th all-time Euroleague player to reach 500. In the clash versus Lietuvos Ritas he dished 7 assists.
