Rytas Vilnius (1-1) had to work hard to earn their first victory of the new season in the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL), sponsored by Betsson.
Playing on home hardwood, the squad coached by Nedas Pacevičius held off Neptūnas Klaipėda (2-3) with an 86:77 (18:22, 22:18, 27:21, 19:16) victory.
With just over three minutes remaining on the game clock, the night came to an early end for Neptūnas head coach Gediminas Petrauskas, who was ejected after receiving two technical fouls.
Although Kay Bruhnke opened the contest with a three-pointer, Martynas Echodas and Elvar Fridriksson pushed the visitors ahead, with Henri Drell and Yannick Franke expanding the margin to 17:6. Gytis Masiulis helped Vilnius chip away at the deficit, and following a series of missed opportunities on both ends, the hosts pulled back into contention to trail 18:22 after the first quarter.
Kristupas Žemaitis and Lukas Kreišmontas steadied the ship for Neptūnas (31:22), but Artūras Gudaitis, Augustas Marčiulionis, and Michael Devoe sparked an immediate answer (36:39), prompting Petrauskas to call a timeout. The stoppage did little to slow the momentum as the deficit continued to melt away (39:40), with Gytis Radzevičius leveling the score at 40:40 heading into halftime.
Rytas Vilnius seized control early in the third quarter (47:40), with Devoe and Bruhnke completing an 11:0 run to make it 51:40. Drell finally ended the scoring drought for Neptūnas, igniting a furious counter-rally by the visitors that brought them within one (50:51). The closing minutes of the frame remained tightly contested, but Vilnius created breathing room once more as Marčiulionis and Matas Jogėla converted to make it 67:61 after three periods.
Despite the slim margin holding early in the fourth quarter, Vilnius gradually broke the game open. Ricky Lindo buried a three-pointer, quickly followed by another triple from Devoe, stretching the gap to double digits (75:65). With his side falling behind, Petrauskas let his frustration boil over and was hit with back-to-back technical fouls, resulting in his ejection. Rytas Vilnius capitalized from the stripe to make it 81:70 and comfortably closed out the win.
In the final moments, big man Oskaras Pleikys returned to the floor, while youngster Kornelijus Snitka made his debut in the LKL, sponsored by Betsson.
Devoe turned in his most productive performance in a Vilnius uniform so far, finishing with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and an efficiency rating of 20. Marčiulionis led the scoring with 17 points.
For Neptūnas, Franke and Echodas (8 rebounds) led the way with 16 points each.
Rytas Vilnius: Augustas Marčiulionis 17 (6 reb.), Kay Bruhnke 15 (4/5 3PT), Michael Devoe 12, Gytis Radzevičius 10.
Neptūnas: Yannick Franke and Martynas Echodas (8 reb.) – 16 each, Elvar Fridriksson 14, Henri Drell 10.
Source: LKL.lt