Lietuvos
Rytas opened the VTB United League campaign with a 78-71 (22-19, 20-19, 20-14,
16-19) victory over Lokomotiv-Kuban on the road in Krasnodar on Tuesday.
The Lithuanian League (LKL) runners-up had the control of the match for most of the game and even held a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, but the hosts managed to close the gap to 63-68 in the middle of the final period.
However, Steponas Babrauskas hit his third three-pointer of the quarter and Renaldas Seibutis added a fast-break lay-up to allow Lietuvos Rytas to pull away once again.
Tyrese Rice scored a game-high 20 points, Lawrence Roberts had 14, while Steponas Babrauskas collected all of his 11 points in the second half to give Lietuvos Rytas a well-needed push when it mattered the most.
French big man Ali Traore and explosive guard Lionel Chalmers both finished the game with 15 points for Lokomotiv, while Kelvin Rivers contributed with 14 points.
Lietuvos Rytas will now travel to Mariupol, where they will face Azovmash after a day’s break before moving on to Minsk to finish an intense road trip.
