Adas Juškevičius made four three-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Alytus Wolves erased a 15 point deficit and posted a 79-77 win over Tartu Ülikool Maks&Moorits on Monday, January 9, at the Tartu Ulikooli Spordihoone in southern Estonia.
Players of the game
Some players save the best for the last.
Adas Juškevičius did exactly that as he scored 12 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter.
A 2014 FIBA World Cup participant made 4-of-8 three pointers in a span of 10 minutes.
Juškevičius got “a licence to kill” and he delivered.
Jeffery Taylor showed his worth too.
A 2018 Euroleague champion scored a game high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
Taylor, a former Vanderbilt and Real Madrid player, added three rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot.
He forced six fouls for a +/- ratio of 13 in 28 minutes of play.
Eric Buckner had 13 points and 11 rebounds.
A former Gulf Coast State and Georgia State big man grabbed seven offensive rebounds.
Juan Gomez de Liano registered three field goal attempts and one assist in his ENBL debut.
Andrii Voinalovych scored 17 points for the hosts but missed a potential game winner.
Tartu power forward added three rebounds and one blocked shot.
Tomaš Pavelka had 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field.
Center grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots.
Jalan McCloud posted 15 points but missed a potential go-ahead shot in the last minute.
Texas Southern and East Tennessee State standout dished out a game high 10 assists.
Key stats
Tartu shot 53% in the first half (17/32), including 55% from the three point line (5/9) to take a 44-32 lead at the half.
Meanwhile, the Wolves connected 33% of their field goal attempts (11/33).
Buckner and Taylor combined for 16 points but the rest of the crew were “Missing in action”.
Taylor stepped up even more after the halftime break.
He had four points and two steals in the fourth quarter to fuel a game winning run.
Juškevičius turned out to be the Wolves go-to player.
He cut the gap to three points 70-73 with 04:04 on the clock.
Eigirdas Žukauskas three pointer gave the Wolves a 77-75 lead with 94 seconds to go.
Mart Rosenthal tied the game at 77 from the free throw line.
A series of missed shots and turnovers followed.
The hosts were forced to foul after their missed shots.
Taylor split his free throws for a 78-77 lead and Kristupas Žemaitis did the same with 20 seconds left.
Leemet Böckler and Andrii Voinalovych missed their last field goal attempts from the three point line.
Game notes
Tartu coach Nikolajs Mazurs was Kurtinaitis assistant at the VEF Rīga in 2010.
They met after as well as Kurtinaitis and Khimki Moscow Region played against VEF Rīga – coached by Ramūnas Butautas and later by Mazurs himself.
BC Wolves is a more experienced team but Tartu showed cohesion, passion and better shooting.
The game was broadcasted in the Philippines via BC Wolves page on Facebook with live commentary by William “Bill” Velasco.
BC Wolves registered more than 80 000 followers on Facebook in a span of eight months.
SCHEDULE (local time only)
Monday, January 9, Tartu (GMT+3h)
Tartu Ülikool Maks&Moorits 77–79 BC Wolves
Monday, January 9, Valmiera (GMT+3h)
Valmiera Glass ViA 71–94 BM Stal Ostrow
Tuesday, January 10, Tartu
18:00 BM Stal Ostrow – Tartu Ülikool Maks&Moorits
Tuesday, January 10, Valmiera
19:00 BC Wolves – Valmiera Glass ViA
Wednesday, January 11, Lublin (GMT+2h)
19:00 Polski Cukier Start Lublin – Šiauliai
STANDINGS, as of January 9, 2023
Group A
Budivelnyk Kyiv 4-0 (+56) Qualified
Kalev/Cramo 2-3 (+26)
Zastal Zielona Gora 2-2 (-14)
Polski Cukier Start Lublin 2-1 (+29)
Šiauliai 2-0 (+13)
KB Sigal Prishtina 1-3 (-40)
TalTech Optibet 0-4 (-70)
Tie-breaker: Kalev/Cramo 1-1, +6; Sigal Prishtina 1-1, +3; Zastal Zielona Gora 1-1, -9.
STANDINGS, as of January 9, 2023
Group B
King Szczecin 4-0 (+32)
Stal Ostrow 3-1 (+44)
Ironi Ness Ziona 2-2 (+3)
Trefl Sopot 2-2 (+22)
Tartu University 2-2 (+27)
BC Wolves 1-0 (+2)
Basket Brno 0-4 (-46)
Valmiera Glass VIA 0-3 (-84)
Tie-breaker (1): Ironi Ness Ziona 1-0, +8; Trefl Sopot 0-1, -8.
Tie-breaker (2): Trefl Sopot 1-0, +4; Tartu 0-1, -4.