Lietuvos Rytas suffered a second defeat in Euroleague this season, losing 84:91 against Unicaja in Malaga on Thursday.
Arturas Jomantas had 16 points, Dejan Borovnjak and Bojan Popovic added 15 for Lietuvos Rytas, as Milko Bjelica scored 12. Unicaja's Omar Cook hit 4 of 7 three pointer to end up with 16, Joel Freeland netted 15 as Carlos Jimenez made a contribution of 11 points and 9 boards.
Despite Lietuvos Rytas leading in the beginning of the first quarter, Unicaja already had a 6 point lead after the first quarter and used a further 10:3 run to make the score 36:23.
Rimas Kurtinaitis seems to have inspired his team during the halftime interval, as great defense and efficient offense from the visitors caused Unicaja's lead to melt. After Jomantas' basket in the 35 minute of the game, the hosts were ahead by only a single points. Lietuvos Rytas couldn't make a final push to turn the score around and were trailing by 3 in the 37 minute. Unicaja scored 6 straight points to clinch the victory.
Dejan Borovnjak did not play in the first half, but scored 15 points and grabbed 4 rebounds in a spectacular performance in the third and fourth periods.
Donatas Zavackas, on the other hand, had a terrible night and was captured arguing with coach Kurtinaitis in the television footage. The player was benched in the third quarter and did not come off the bench. Zavackas scored 2 points in the 16 minutes, that he played and had an efficiency rating of -4.
Unicaja sits atop group B, keeping a 100 per cent record after the fifth victory. Lietuvos Rytas has a 3 victories and 2 losses, both on the road against Olympiacos and Unicaja.
