Rytas Vilnius (3-1) once again had to work hard to secure a victory in the LKL, sponsored by Betsson.
Playing on the road, the squad coached by Nedas Pacevičius held off Tauragė (1-5) 79:71 (21:24, 12:17, 24:16, 22:14), picking up their third consecutive domestic win following an opening-day defeat.
Meanwhile, the loss marked the fifth straight setback for the league newcomers.
The capital club was without Kay Bruhnke.
In the opening minutes, Lithuanian tandems paced the scoring for both sides: Vaidas Kariniauskas and Benas Griciūnas led the hosts, matched by Martynas Paliukėnas and Artūras Gudaitis for the visitors (7:7). Midway through the first quarter, Vilnius established a slight advantage (14:10), but Tauragė answered with a blistering 13:2 run to swing the momentum firmly in their favor (23:16). After ten minutes, the home side held a 24:21 lead.
Points were much harder to come by in the second quarter. Nevertheless, Tauragė maintained their intensity and refused to let the favorites close in—in fact, the squad coached by Tomas Rinkevičius managed to extend their cushion, heading into halftime up 41:33.
After the break, Rytas Vilnius began steadily chipping away at the deficit, wiping it out completely midway through the third frame when a Gudaitis basket tied the score at 47:47. Although Vilnius briefly edged ahead (52:51), the hosts held firm, leaving the game deadlocked at 57:57 entering the fourth quarter.
The visitors laid the foundation for victory with a decisive push to open the final frame. A three-pointer by Paliukėnas stretched the lead to eight (69:61), and Vilnius soon pushed the margin into double figures for the first time (71:61). The Vilnius offense kept rolling from there, keeping the hosts at bay down the stretch to secure their third league win.
Tauragė: Benas Griciūnas 15, Nojus Mineikis 10, Vaidas Kariniauskas 9, Andriy Voynalovych and Daryl Doualla 8 each, Camren Hayes 7, James Blackmon and Haris Bratanovic 6 each.
Rytas Vilnius: Artūras Gudaitis and Ricky Lindo 13 each, Gytis Masiulis 12, Martynas Paliukėnas 11, Cassius Winston 10, Augustas Marčiulionis 6.
Source: LKL.lt