The bronze medal winner of the previous
Lithuanian League (LKL) season, Rudupis, claimed the fifth consecutive win in
the domestic league with a solid 81-56 (25-20, 16-11, 21-9, 19-16) performance
against rivals Techasas on Friday evening in Prienai to climb to the top of the
table alongside with Lietuvos Rytas and Siauliai.
For Rudupis, who will be making their European debut later on in the month in Eurocup against GasTerra Flames, it was the first match in the new arena. However, the Prienai side will be forced to play Eurocup matches in Kaunas Sports Hall, as their new arena doesn’t meet the minimum requirement of 3,000 seats and can only fit 2,000.
- You can check out some pictures of the arena from Rudupis practice right here.
The hosts were in the lead from the beginning of the match, playing aggressively and making easy shots, while Techasas struggled to beat Rudupis’ defense. Consequently, the first half ended with the home team leading 41-31.
After the break, Techasas seemed like they hadn’t learnt any lessons from the twenty minutes and Rudupis’ lead began to grow. With the third quarter coming to an end, the score was 62-40. The last ten minutes were just a formality, as the game ended with a crushing Rudupis victory over their opponents from Panevezys.
Povilas Butkevicius was the player of the game having finished with a big double-double of 26 points and 14 rebounds to amass a ranking of 41 in 27 minutes. Gediminas Orelikas scored 20 and grabbed nine boards, while Simas Buterlevicius and Paulius Ivanauskas had 13 and 10 respectively.
Ernestas Ezerskis of Techasas scored 14 points and dished out five assists, Sarunas Kulevicius added 13 and 7 rebounds while Edgaras Stanionis finished the game with nine points.
Techasas, who were experiencing financial difficulties, suffered its fourth straight defeat in a row and they are 11th in the LKL table after the loss to Rudupis.
