The Lithuanians held a three-point lead with 13 seconds on the clock, but Mirza Teletovic hit a dagger-three to tie the game at 86-86. However, El-Amin didn’t have any thoughts about overtime and answered with a huge game-winner at the other end.
"I would like to congratulate my players for believing in themselves
tonight. They showed big confidence and made a big effort. We came here
to play and give our best, showing pride and willing to work as hard as
we can. I think we deserved the win tonight. We shot well and played the
game we wanted for almost three quarters.
The most important thing for me tonight is how much we wanted to play a
good game. We were able to overcome a big deficit in rebounding, which
is unusual, and that tells me the team did a great job," said Lietuvos Rytas' coach Aleksandr Trifunovic.
El-Amin had a near perfect game scoring 22 points whilst missing only one shot throughout the whole game. Kenan Bajramovic also stepped up in the second half of the game to collect a total of 19. Milko Bjelica finished the game with 17 points while D.J. Strawberry added 12, including two very important three-pointers when the opponents seemed to be running away with the lead in the second quarter.
"We were unable to secure the win because of our poor defense. Some
players played without confidence at some moments of the game, and we
needed that confidence to make better decisions and play more calm in
the clutch minutes. The difference between the turnovers and steals was
too big and explains the loss.
The last shot is just a circumstance of the game. We lost the game before that shot. Allowing 34 points in the last quarter at home says everything about our defense tonight," Caja Laboral coach Dusko Ivanovic told after the game.
The big Bosnian Mirza Teletovic, knocked down 5-of-8 three-pointers after missing his first three for a total of 20 points while Marcelinho Huertas had a double-double of 17 points and 11 assists. Stanko Barac collected 15 points, as Esteban Batista and Brad Oleson added 10 each.
