Dominant Lietkabelis entered the KMT final / News

Juventus de Utena, which surprised in the quarterfinals of the Copa Rey Mindaugas, did not crown it again with a ticket to the final.

Practically leading every match in the semi-final of Panevėžys “Liekabelis” at the “Cido” stadium 84:73 (16:11, 30:23, 20:20, 18:19) defeated Juventus and will play the KMT final for the second time in the club’s history.

This was repeated in 2017. history, when Juventus also knocked out Rytas in the quarter-finals, but then had to acknowledge Lietkabelis’s advantage in the semifinals.

“It was the most important game of the season so far,” Rainbow coach Nenad Chanak said after the match. “We started very upset, we did not feel the rhythm of the game, but we defended very well, we played with energy and finally we showed that we can defend well.”

In the first half, the hosts, who sped 12: 3, went ahead at 16:11 and led all remaining matches. After five consecutive points from Paulius Valinskas, Lietkabelis gained a double-digit lead for the first time: 31:20.

Gabrielius Maldūnas started the third quarter with 6 points in a row, Vytenis Lipkevičius issued fines after Vaidas Čepukaitis’s unsportsmanlike foul and increased the lead to 20 points – 54:34.

By the end of the match, Juventus had briefly reestablished the intrigue, when they ran 10: 0 and after Vaidas Kariniauskas took over the ball and moved closer to 70:75 by two points.

Soon, Mindaugas Kupšas, who was unstoppable and scored 24 points, committed the fifth period and, although Djordje Gagičius did not hit the penalties, the people of Panevėžys recovered the ball and Vytenis Lipkevičius penalized with three penalty points.

Netruus Gagičius added two points and the end of the match was clear: 80:70.

Kyle Vinales was among the winners, with 14 points (4/8 two points, 1/4 three points), 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 interceptions and 19 utility points in 29 minutes.

“He played like a real leader, like a real player, he didn’t care about his personal stats, he played for the team,” Chanak said. – I do not want to say that he played perfectly, it is a team victory, each of our players gave something. Today I decided to play with a shorter rotation because the game was very important and all the players responded a lot ”.

“Juventus”: Mindaugas Kupšas 24 (10/10 duplicates, 6 rooms rev., 26 users), Žygimantas Skučas 11 (5 rooms rev.), Vaidas Kariniauskas (9 res.), Marius Runkauskas (3/4 trit.) After 9.

Lietkabelis: Djordje Gagičius 18 (6/7 doubles, 6/8 penalty, 4 vol.), Kyle Vinales (7 rebounds, 6 res.), Gabrielius Maldūnas (7/9 diat., 6 reb. Chambers, 3 trans. Chambers, 2 blocks) after 14, Paulius Valinskas 12 (2/7 dvit., 2/5 trit., 4 rez. Ed.), Vytenis Lipkevičius 10 (10 aton.), Margiris Normantas 8 (2/4 trit. ).