Bristol Flyers erased a 24 points deficit and at one moment trailed by a single point on aggregate but suffered a 79-90 loss at the hands of Šiauliai on Tuesday, March 19, at the Šiauliai arena in northern Lithuania. Šiauliai won the series 174-155 and qualified to the Final Four for the second time.
Players of the game
Sean Armand scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half.
A former Iona shooting guard debuted for Šiauliai on March 17.
Armand finished the game with a team high six assists and one block.
Paulius Danusevičius had 16 points on 5/6 shooting from the field and 3/4 from the charity stripe.
Šiauliai forward was extremely efficient in the second half, despite several turnovers.
Danusevičius registered 13 points and two steals after the break.
A former Jonava forward Nojus Mineikis chipped in with 13 points on 3/8 shooting from the three point line.
Shaquille Keith had 12 points on 5/7 shooting from the floor and 2/3 from the free throw line.
Šiauliai loyalists Eimantas Stankevičius – playing for the Sun City from 2019 – and Daniel Baslyk posted 11 and 10 points respectively.
Trejon Jacob scored 23 points for Bristol Flyers.
A former Florida International University star went 5/11 from the three point line but missed his last attempts.
Jacob also had a game high three steals.
Mighty Brad Greene checked out with 18 points on 9/11 shooting from the field.
A former UC Irvine Anteater added four rebounds.
Levi Bradley Jr (Northern Illinois University) had 12 points.
Key stats
Šiauliai started the game with a 23-7 run, extending their aggregate lead up to 24 points, 107-83.
The hosts were red hot from the three point line, connecting five attempts from the deep in less than six minutes.
Bristol Flyers recovered quickly and took a 27-29 lead after a 0-18 run.
Trejon Jacob scored 10 points early in the second quarter, including three daggers from the deep.
Several lead changes followed late in the first half and Jacob tied the game at 44.
Šiauliai shot 8/20 from the three point line – in 20 minutes of play, compared to 3/11 for Bristol.
Jacob posted another nine points – including two three pointers – in the third quarter to maintain initiative for the Flyers.
The visitors led by a single point, 65-66 (on aggregate 149-142).
Bristol Flyers ran into a foul trouble.
Tevin Olison was fouled out.
Brad Greene, Raphell Thomas-Edwards, Levi Bradley Jr and Tejon Lucas had four fouls each.
Šiauliai shot 50% from the field, including 40% from the three point line, 12/30.
Bristol shot 41% from the field, including 25% from the three point line, 6/24.
Game notes
Šiauliai improved to 8-1, while Bristol Flyers dropped to 4-5.
Betsafe LKL teams won all four games against the British Basketball league teams.
Žydrūnas Urbonas has a 6-0 record in the ENBL.
Šiauliai are 5-0 in the ENBL home games.
Bristol Flyers are 3-2 in the ENBL road games.
Andreas Kapoulas and Bristol Flyers qualified for the playoffs in their debut season.
Šiauliai earned a silver medal at the 2022 ENBL Final Four in Wloclawek.
Two years later they advanced to their second Final Four.
SCHEDULE (local time only)l
(A1) Uniclub Casino Juventus Utena – Royal Liège Basket (B4)
Game one: Wednesday, March 13, Liège win 95-84
Game two: Wednesday, March 20, Utena 18:30
(A2) Bakken Bears Aarhus – Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles (B3)
Game one: Friday, March 1, Newcastle; Bakken Bears win 92-87
Game two: Wednesday, March 13, Aarhus; Bakken Bears win in overtime 96-92 (81-86)
Bakken Bears win on aggregate, 188-179
(A3) Tartu Ülikool Maks&Moorits – CSO Voluntari (B2)
Game one: Tuesday, March 12, Tartu win 83-76
Game two: Tuesday, March 26, Bucharest 19:00
(A4) Bristol Flyers – Šiauliai (B1)
Game one: Thursday, March 7, Šiauliai win 84-76
Game two: Tuesday, March 19, Šiauliai win 90-79
Šiauliai win on aggregate, 174-155