{"id":9578,"date":"2026-09-26T16:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rytasvilnius.lt\/en\/?p=9578"},"modified":"2026-09-26T16:18:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:18:46","slug":"showing-iron-resolve-rytas-vilnius-advances-to-world-championship-final-after-dramatic-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rytasvilnius.lt\/en\/news\/showing-iron-resolve-rytas-vilnius-advances-to-world-championship-final-after-dramatic-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"Showing iron resolve, Rytas Vilnius advances to world championship final after dramatic finish"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">In a FIBA Intercontinental Cup semifinal highlighted by an incredible comeback, Rytas Vilnius proved their championship pedigree. At Beijing National Indoor Stadium, the squad coached by Nedas Pacevi\u010dius erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit in the clutch to defeat South American champions Boca Juniors Buenos Aires 77:70, punching a historic ticket to the tournament\u2019s grand final.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Defensive intensity set the tone early. Kay Bruhnke opened the scoring for Vilnius with a triple (3:0), but Jose Vildoza and Leonardo Lema quickly countered from beyond the arc (3:3). Although Cassius Winston found Gytis Radzevi\u010dius for a transition layup (7:5) and an Augustas Mar\u010diulionis drive widened the lead (9:7), Martin Cuello buried a long-range shot to put the opponents ahead (9:10). Michael Devoe\u2019s steal and score briefly restored the advantage (11:10), but free throws from Agustin Barreiro and a Kriss Helmanis dunk carried the Argentine club to an 11:16 lead at the end of the opening quarter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">In the second quarter, a Devoe triple and an offensive putback by Gytis Masiulis edged Vilnius back in front (17:16). However, Lucas Faggiano and Nicolas Stenta struck from deep to shift momentum back to Boca (17:21). Radzevi\u010dius answered with a three-pointer (20:21) and Winston drove inside for two (22:23), but aggressive interior play from Micheal Warren and Francisco Caffaro widened the gap (23:29). Matas Jog\u0117la sank a three (26:29), while Bruhnke free throws and a Mar\u010diulionis bucket kept Vilnius close (31:35). Right before halftime, a Caffaro three-point play pushed the lead further (31:38); Devoe then fed Art\u016bras Gudaitis inside (33:38), but Vildoza hit a pair from the charity stripe after a Martynas Paliuk\u0117nas foul to send Boca Juniors into the break up 33:40.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">After the restart, Warren expanded the lead (33:42), but Jog\u0117la drained back-to-back three-pointers off assists from Radzevi\u010dius and Mar\u010diulionis (41:46). Gudaitis answered Caffaro free throws with a basket inside (43:48), Masiulis converted at the line, and following a block by Masiulis on defense, Devoe threw up a fast-break alley-oop for Bruhnke, trimming the margin to 47:48. Boca responded through a Faggiano three-pointer (47:51). Even though Ricky Lindo Jr. answered from beyond the arc (50:52), Faggiano caught fire late in the third, drilling two consecutive triples to re-establish Boca\u2019s cushion at 50:58.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Rytas Vilnius unleashed a furious assault in the final frame. Sparked by Devoe free throws and a transition layup from Masiulis off an Ignas Urbonas steal (54:58), the comeback gathered unstoppable momentum: Lindo Jr. hit two three-pointers and Mar\u010diulionis added two driving finishes to level the score at 64:64. When Vildoza connected from downtown, Mar\u010diulionis drew a foul and sank two free throws (66:67). Devoe then generated a steal and fed Gudaitis under the rim to put Vilnius in front (68:67). Moments later, Devoe hit a midrange jumper (70:67), Gudaitis rejected Warren at the rim, and with 90 seconds left, Devoe buried a clutch dagger three (73:68). With 37 seconds on the clock, Mar\u010diulionis grabbed a vital offensive rebound and converted a clutch basket (75:70), before free throws from Devoe and Radzevi\u010dius iced the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ng-star-inserted\"><span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Outscoring their opponents 27:12 in the final quarter, Rytas Vilnius sealed a thrilling 77:70 victory and will take the court in Beijing on Sunday to fight for the FIBA Intercontinental Cup championship trophy.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a FIBA Intercontinental Cup semifinal highlighted by an incredible comeback, Rytas Vilnius proved their championship pedigree. At Beijing National Indoor Stadium, the squad coached by Nedas Pacevi\u010dius erased an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit in the clutch to defeat South American champions Boca Juniors Buenos Aires 77:70, punching a historic ticket to the tournament\u2019s grand final. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9579,"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-9578","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>Showing iron resolve, Rytas Vilnius advances to world championship final after dramatic finish - 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\/showing-iron-resolve-rytas-vilnius-advances-to-world-championship-final-after-dramatic-finish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Showing iron resolve, Rytas Vilnius advances to world championship final after dramatic finish - Vilniaus \u201eRYTAS\u201c\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a FIBA Intercontinental Cup semifinal highlighted by an incredible comeback, Rytas Vilnius proved their championship pedigree. 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