Ritas came back from -20 and where AEK had embraced their trophy, took it through their hands in overtime. Lukosius sent it to overtime making the match of his life and 92-86 in the end hurts AEK.
Lukosius was the hero for the Lithuanians with huge shots, while the Union who…killed themselves at the end (entering the 4th quarter with +18) had Nunnally with 23 points and Bartley with 20 points.
AEK – Ritas: The match
Charalambopoulos scored with a three-pointer for 10-4 in the 4th minute and forced Rita’s coach to call a timeout. Bartley was unstoppable in the beginning and reached 10 points in 7 minutes for 19-10. AEK continued at a high pace and with Nanali the difference went to 25-12, just before the end of the first quarter.
Sakota’s team was determined and shot the difference to 15 points for 34-19 at 12′, with Rita’s coach calling a timeout. Lekavicius with a nice floater made it 37-25 for Union in the middle of the second period. The Union continued to control the match and went into halftime in, playing great defense. Nunnally was the man to shape the scoring in the second period.
Smith’s 3-pointer made it 44-31 for the Lithuanians early in the third period. Lekavicius with his favorite move made it 48-34 in the middle of the third period. AEK didn’t want to let the foot off the gas, shooting the difference to 20 for 55-35 at 27. Fizel with a great basket made it 57-39, two minutes before the end of the third period.
Lukosius cut it to 68-6 for Ritas, but Bartley responded, with Harding making it 71-59 at 33′. Smith cut it to 74-65 at 34′. The match became a thriller and Nunali scored 78-72 in the 37th minute. Lukosius made it 78-75 at 39′. Harding made it 78-77. Nunnally made it 80-77. Lukosius tied the score with a crazy 3-pointer with 20 seconds left.
The quarters: 25-15, 42-25, 63-45, 80-80, 86-92
MVP: Lukosius with 23 points was the MVP
THE BEST LOSER: Nanali with 23 points
THE STATS THAT STAND OUT: The fact that AEK lost while leading by 20.
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