Khalid El-Amin put on a Lietuvos Rytas jersey for the first time and helped the defending Lithuanian League (LKL) champions move to a 4-0 record after a 94-63 (26-18, 21-15, 24-17, 23-13) victory at home against Alytus.
The newly acquired point guard marked his debut with nine points, five assists and two rebounds during the 21 minutes that El-Amin spent on the court.
Milko Bjelica led all scorers with 22 points, Brad Newley had 18 as Jonas Valanciunas added 15 for Lietuvos Rytas.
“I’m still not happy and satisfied with how we’re moving forward. Playing with Alytus, we still made very silly turnovers, but we’re trying to move forward and improve. We’re still searching for the best possible roster – players, who feel the best playing together in one five,” said Lietuvos Rytas head coach Aleksandr Trifunovic.
Alytus top-scorer Saulius Dumbliauskas finished the game with 15 points, Rytis Adomavicius collected 14 while Paulius Kleiza chipped in with 10 of his own.
Alytus started the game relatively well and even led 16-15 in the seventh minute of the game. However, El-Amin scored five straight points to spark an 11-0 run for the home team, which gave Lietuvos Rytas a 10-point lead at 26-16.
The visitors had managed to close the gap to 7 points in the second quarter (27-34), but the side from Vilnius went on another run to regain the momentum and blow ahead to an 18-point lead as the scoreboard showed 47-29 and the hosts cruised to an easy victory.
