{"id":9221,"date":"2026-05-21T20:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rytasvilnius.lt\/en\/?p=9221"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:03:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T08:03:04","slug":"rytas-starts-quarterfinals-with-a-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rytasvilnius.lt\/en\/news\/rytas-starts-quarterfinals-with-a-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"Rytas Starts Quarterfinals with a Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Giedrius \u017dib\u0117nas&#8217; team suffered a 92:84 (29:27, 26:22, 16:16, 21:19) road defeat against Utena Juventus, now trailing 0:1 in the best-of-two quarterfinal series.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Due to arena availability, the Utena team started the series in their city, but the second and, if necessary, third games will be played in Vilnius on May 23rd and 25th.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">The capital club&#8217;s solid big-man duo couldn&#8217;t save them. Art\u016bras Gudaitis finished the game with 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 15 efficiency rating points, while Gytis Masiulis added 13 points and 5 rebounds for 22 efficiency rating points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">However, Vilnius was without Simonas Luko\u0161ius, Jerrick Harding, and Jordan Caroline.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">At the start of the game, both teams displayed high-scoring basketball, exchanging successful offensive plays. Juventus players were the first to find gaps in the opponents&#8217; defense and had already established a double-digit lead midway through the quarter (19:8). Nevertheless, the visitors collectively reduced the deficit. By the end of the quarter, after a G. Masiulis dunk, only 2 points separated the teams \u2013 27:29.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">The pace remained high in the second quarter, and Rytas, through accurate shooting and successful rebounding, managed to take the lead (42:37). However, the Juventus team, led by accurate long-range shots and strong play from P. Valinskas at the end of the quarter, regained the initiative. The first half concluded with Utena holding a six-point lead \u2013 55:49.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">After the break, the game became significantly tougher, with both teams committing more turnovers and struggling offensively. Rytas approached and even tied the score several times, but the hosts consistently found answers with crucial shots from M. Lewis and Malik Johnson. Before the decisive stretch, the Utena team maintained the same six-point advantage \u2013 71:65.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">In the decisive fourth quarter, Juventus controlled the situation on the court and extended their lead to double digits (76:65) with accurate shooting. The visitors then slowly started to climb back \u2013 at a crucial moment, two three-pointers from Ignas Sargi\u016bnas, followed by a Speedy Smith two-pointer, restored parity after a long time (84:84). \u0160ar\u016bnas Beniu\u0161is once again put his team ahead (86:84), while the Vilnius team struggled to execute successful offensive plays. Furthermore, P. Valinskas converted two free throws (88:84). Augustas Mar\u010diulionis could have responded in kind, but both his shots missed, and on the other end of the court, L. Uleckas and M. Lewis sealed the victory with free throws.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Juventus scorers: Maxwell Lewis 19, Paulius Valinskas and Lukas Uleckas 15 each, Malik Johnson 13, Ivan Vrane\u0161 10, \u0160ar\u016bnas Beniu\u0161is 9, Hassanas Diarra 7.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Rytas scorers: Art\u016bras Gudaitis 16, Augustas Mar\u010diulionis 15, Gytis Masiulis and Ignas Sargi\u016bnas 13 each, Speedy Smith 12, Ignas Urbonas 6.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Giedrius \u017dib\u0117nas&#8217; team suffered a 92:84 (29:27, 26:22, 16:16, 21:19) road defeat against Utena Juventus, now trailing 0:1 in the best-of-two quarterfinal series. Due to arena availability, the Utena team started the series in their city, but the second and, if necessary, third games will be played in Vilnius on May 23rd and 25th. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9222,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rytas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rytas Starts Quarterfinals with a Loss - Vilniaus \u201eRYTAS\u201c<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/rytasvilnius.lt\/en\/news\/rytas-starts-quarterfinals-with-a-loss\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rytas Starts Quarterfinals with a Loss - Vilniaus \u201eRYTAS\u201c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Giedrius \u017dib\u0117nas&#8217; team suffered a 92:84 (29:27, 26:22, 16:16, 21:19) road defeat against Utena Juventus, now trailing 0:1 in the best-of-two quarterfinal series. 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