A miserable performance from the charity stripe did not stop Lietuvos Rytas from taking a road victory in Valmiera, where the Lithuanian champions defeated the hosts 79:72.
The visitors from the Lithuanian capital were terrible from the line, only 11 from 23 attempts went in.
Steponas Babrauskas led Lietuvos Rytas with 18 points, hitting 4 of 10 from long range, Dejan Borovnjak scored 15 and added 7 rebounds, Doantas Zavackas finished with 11, missing 7 of 8 three-point attempts. Martynas Gecevicius, Arturas Jomantas, who also had 9 rebounds and 6 assists, and Lukas Brazdauskis added 9 points each.
Davis Daviin had 23 points and 8 rebounds, Juris Andzejevskis scored 14 also adding 8 rebounds, while Janis Kaufmanis had 12 for Valmiera.
Justas Sinica did not step onto the court, Milko Bjelica spent less than a minute on, while Aron Baynes managed to foul out in six minutes.
Valmiera started the game better, going into a 12:4 lead after a couple of shots from downtown went in. However, Lietuvos Rytas straightened back after Borovnjak scored and Vidas Ginevicius added a triple - 17:17.
The start of the second quarter saw a rain of three-pointers. Zavackas nailed a long-range attempt, the hosts answered back with one of their own. Another triple hit by Babrauskas, was also answered by the Latvians. Lietuvos Rytas in the lead - 30:26.
With the second period half way through Gecevicius hit a three-pointer and Babrauskas scored from closer in to give the Lithuanian club a 35:32 lead.
The Latvians took the control of the game into their own hands and Lietuvos Rytas needed 6 straight points to make the game even - 56:56.
The club from Vilnius went on into the lead by 8 in the fourth quarter by a run continuing from the previous quarter to take a hard-earned victory.
