Back to the Final Four for Lietuvos Rytas

KALNCIEMS - Lietuvos Rytas is returning to the Final Four of the Eurocup for the first time since winning the tournament in 2009, the last season in which the red and blacks appeared in Europe’s second-tier club competition.
Despite losing the return leg of their quarter-final match-up against Ukrainian club BC Donetsk, 80-78, on Tuesday night, the Lithuanian club progresses on account of having amassed a better aggregate score over the course of both legs.
In their opening encounter a week previous, Steponas Babrauskas scored 15 points off the bench to help Lietuvos Rytas to an 11-point, 76-65 win, meaning that when the Vilnius-based club traveled to the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, they could not afford to lose by more than 12 points.

At no stage did Aleksandar Dzikic’s team look in any real danger of allowing that to occur, leading by as much as 12 points early in the game, before going into the last quarter with the buffer still sitting at seven. Ramel Curry lead Donetsk on a 7-0 run to begin the final frame to tie the game up at 57. However, Lietuvos Rytas quickly overcame their mild slump, assuring that they never trailed by more than five points down the home stretch. Curry ended the night with a game-high 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field.

For the visitors, young star Jonas Valanciunas was again leading from the front, shooting at 100 percent to finish with 14 points and seven rebounds, showing that he is peaking at just the right time of the season, with a stint in the Lithuanian national team no doubt set to follow his club duties. Entering the game off the bench, Tyrese Rice also finished with 14 points.

“I can say I’m happy with the way we played today,” Dzikic told reporters despite his team’s loss, adding, “We planned to qualify for the Eurocup Finals and we have managed to do it. I would like to congratulate my players. We knew that it would be hard in Donetsk, so we prepared really well.”
Lietuvos Rytas’ trip to the Final Four now marks the fourth time the club has been there since the conception of the competition in 2002.

The current Lithuanian domestic league runners up managed to win the competition in 2004/2005 and 2008/2009, whilst finishing as runners up to Spanish club Real Madrid in 2006/2007. It is an impressive record for a team who has only appeared intermittently in the competition, between trips to Europe’s elite club competition, the Euroleague.
In the semi-finals, Lietuvos Rytas takes on Spanish team Valencia, the only other club to have twice won the Eurocup. The Spanish club got there on account of dismantling Montenegrin club Budocnost, 86-63, in their return leg encounter, which was also played on Tuesday night.

The second semi-final offers up an all-Russian affair with Final Four hosts BC Khimki knocking over fellow Russian team Lokomotiv to set up an encounter with Spartak St. Petersburg.

Latvian fans will take a particular interest in the second semi-final with national team point guard Janis Strelnieks currently playing for Spartak after signing for the club midway through this season. The 22-year-old played a key role in Tuesday’s return-leg semi final against Czech club CEZ Nymburk, entering the action off the bench to finish with a game-high 19 points on the back of a perfect shooting display as the Russian club cruised to a 15-point win.
It was the first time the young guard has made it into double figures in the Eurocup to date this season.

Semi-final action will take place on April 14, with the final and playoff for third and fourth set to take place a day later.