„Lietkabelis“ at home 75:95 (19:20, 17:22, 20:32, 19:21) lost to Kaunas „Žalgiris“.
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In the semifinal series up to three wins, the Panevėžys team is now trailing 0-2, so everything could end already on Sunday in Kaunas.
„The stronger team won, fifth in Europe. When you play against such a team, you cannot make so many mental mistakes. We gave away many easy points to Sylvain Francisco. Later Ąžuolas Tubelis showed his strengths. We gave the two best players their strongest positions,“ said P. Malaušauskas at the press conference, who took over as head coach in the middle of the third quarter.
In the third quarter, Nenad Čanak received two technical fouls one after another and was forced to leave the game. Although the emotional outburst was huge at that moment, it did not affect the team.
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Sylvain Francisco was especially killing for „Lietkabelis“. The Frenchman played his best game of the season: scored 27 points (2/2 two-pointers, 6/8 three-pointers, 5/6 free throws) and collected 31 efficiency points.
„In the first half, he did not miss free throws. If you don’t keep distance, do you expect him not to shoot a three-pointer? We could have been more aggressive and better utilized free throw and bonus situations. Such a player did not forgive us,“ explained P. Malaušauskas.
Although Panevėžys is trailing 0:2 in the series, they are not ready to lay down their arms.
„Lietkabelis“ will never give up. We will find soldiers in the roster who want to play and win. We live by this, we love what we do. Whether we play in the big or small final, we will never give up,“ said N. Čanak’s assistant.
