Rytas Vilnius played its first friendly match during the preparation camp in Druskininkai. After a turbulent first half, the Vilnius team took the initiative in the second half and defeated Panevėžys Lietkabelis with a score of 103-84.
The Vilnius team started the game confidently: Kay Bruhnke opened the capital team’s scoring from the free-throw line, while points from Artūras Gudaitis and Ignas Urbonas allowed them to quickly pull away (6-0). Although the opponents soon scored their first points, shots by Cassius Winston and Gudaitis increased the lead to double digits (16-4). In the second half of the quarter, the Panevėžys team managed to reduce the deficit to 4 points, but three-pointers by Martynas Paliukėnas and Urbonas, along with free throws by Michael Devoe, allowed them to end the quarter leading 27-21.
At the start of the second quarter, Rytas regained a double-digit lead (32-21), but the Panevėžys team later took control of the game. The opponents gradually narrowed the gap, equalized the score at the end of the quarter (42-42), and took the lead through free throws. The Vilnius team went into the long break trailing 44-46.
The picture on the court changed in the second half of the game. Rytas started the third quarter by equalizing the score, and soon after, Gudaitis scored two points with a foul. Although the Panevėžys team still tried to answer with a long-range shot, the Vilnius offense gained momentum: Bruhnke and Winston each sank a three-pointer, and the team took control of the game (57-51). Before the decisive quarter, the Vilnius lead was back to 15 points – 82-67.
The Vilnius team did not slow down their pace in the fourth quarter: long-range shots by Gytis Masiulis and Winston allowed them to increase the gap even further (88-71). Playing the end of the match confidently, Rytas maintained a safe distance and started the preparation cycle with a 103-84 victory.
The team was without Gytis Radzevičius, Augustas Marčiulionis, and Matas Jogėla in this friendly match, who have returned from the Lithuanian men’s national basketball team.
Rytas: Bruhnke – 22, Gudaitis – 16, Winston – 14, Devoe and Masiulis 11 each, Urbonas – 10, Pleikys – 8.