By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Coming back from a ten-point deficit, Rytas Vilnius edged Falco Szombathely, 91-88, Wednesday night.
With Maurice Ndour stuck on the injury list, Croatian Ivan Buva recorded a couple of game-highs pairing 20 points with nine rebounds. Vaidas Kariniauskas chipped in 17 more points and Arnas Butkevicus had 13 points in the exciting Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Gameday 2 contest.
The team guided by Giedrius Zibenas, coming off three losses in a row across all competitions, trailed most of the way but a late 6-0 run fueled by Speedy Smith generated a five-point lead with 1:58 left. Barely holding on opened the path to 1-1 in Group L, while the Hungary champions fell to 0-2. The former Louisiana Tech standout chipped in a total of nine points, six assists, and three rebounds.
More good news for the team based in the Lithuanian capital as Jarvis Williams finally made his debut after recovering from an injury suffered in the preseason. The Murray State alumnus had three points in four minutes.
Szilard Benke registered a team-high 17 points in the losing effort for the team coached by Milos Konakov. Zoltan Perl made half of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Benedek Varadi posted a 13-point, 11-assist double-double before fouling out at Avia Solutions Group Arena.
Szombathely, currently 16-3 in Hungary’s NB I/A, once again focused offense in the paint and outscored Vilnius, 40-26, inside but failed to get the job done in Lithuania.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League