By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
When it seemed that Peristeri bwin would punch the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 ticket at home with ease, after winning on the road in Vilnius, Rytas made a huge comeback but lacked the strength to stay in control until the end.
Thanks to a 7-0 run in the final two minutes, Peristeri prevailed and clinched the Round of 16 with a second win of the best-of-three series, finally defeating Rytas 83-80 at the packed Andreas Papandreou hall.
Joe Ragland led the winning side with a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists, being four rebounds shy of a triple-double for a PIR of 23. He also made some clutch plays in the final minutes, scoring a go-ahead layup with 107 seconds on the clock and assisting Nemanja Dangubic for a key three-pointer.
Elijah Mitrou-Long followed with 14 points, while Trevor Thompson had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds but missed a couple of free throws in the final moments, which eventually didn’t hurt his team (5/12 from the free-throw line).
Kenny Williams and Jermaine Love scored 11 points each, while Leonidas Kaselakis added 10, with six rebounds.
For the losing side, Marcus Foster gave his all and scored 20 points, being one of the key players in a fourth-quarter comeback. Martynas Echodas was a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points, while RJ Cole had 13 points and nine assists. Javin DeLaurier added 10 points, half of them in the last quarter when he also provided a couple of important steals and an assist in a big Rytas run.
Vassilis Spanoulis’ side opened the game with a ferocious 13-1 run and led 17-11 after the first 10 minutes. They pushed hard again in the second period, regaining a double-digit lead, and going to halftime with a serious 43-30 advantage. After the third quarter, it seemed that there was no coming back for the visitors since Peristeri stayed in command and entered the final period with a 67-53 lead. However, with their backs against the wall, players of the Lithuanian team started the fourth quarter with an 11-2 run and then turned the score around with a 9-2 run. Peristeri managed to avoid panicking in the final two minutes, stayed focused, and regained the lead to finally win the game and eliminate the Vilnius team from the 2023/24 Basketball Champions League season.
Postgame press conference
Photo: fiba.basketball