“NEPTŪNAS” SHOOK THE TURKISH STARS - THEY STRUGGLED UNTIL THE LAST SECOND (PHOTO GALERY)

Klaipėda, “Neptūnas” at the start of the Eurocup tournament honorably opposed and for half of the match was ahead against the team Istanbul, “Galatasaray”, one of the most titled, well-established and having attracted strong players this year; however, the millionaires from Turkey beat the players from Klaipėda at the last seconds of the game with a result of 94:90.

The first quarter developed well for the players of “Neptūnas”: after two 3-pointers by Donatas Zavackas and a two-pointer by Martynas Mažeika, the players of “Neptūnas” took the lead - 14:11; and a few moments later, Travis Bader, the legionnaire of “Neptūnas” increased the advantage to 5 points with a long-distance shot - 21:16.

In the middle of the second quarter, after Daniel Ewing scored 7 points in a row, “Neptūnas‘s” advantage grew to 8 points - 33:25. Regardless, the experienced players of “Galatasaray” up to halftime were able to catch up with the players of “Neptūnas” and tip the balance in their favor with a minimal advantage - 38:37.

Within less than two minutes left in the third quarter, after a few mistakes by the players of “Neptūnas”, the guests advanced further by 8 points - 49:41. The players from Klaipėda got closer, up to 4 points - 47:51, 49:53, but just before the fourth quarter the players from Turkey drew away a bit once more - 67:59.

“Neptūnas” started the fourth quarter strongly – they played a 5:0 run and were only a one long-range shot away - 64:67. A few moments later only 2 points separated the teams - 68:70.

By the end of the fourth quarter with 2 min and 30 seconds left on the clock, after Martynas Mažeika scored under the basket and Travis Bader made a long-distance shot, the teams were separated by 1 point 80:81.

By the end of the match with 50 seconds left, after Mindaugas Girdžiūnas made a two-point shot, the teams were divided by only 1 point - 86:87, but already in the next attack, Caleb Green, a player from “Galatasaray” made a three-point shot - 90:86. The players from Klaipėda tried to save themselves, but they ran out of luck and time.

“Neptūnas” - “Galatasaray” - 90:94 (21:18, 16:20, 22:29, and 31:27).

“Neptūnas” attacked more accurately from the three-point field goal (52% against 38%); however, “Galatasaray” made more two-point shots (23 against 19) and free-throws (27 against 16).

“Neptūnas”: Martynas Mažeika (6/7 two-pointers) and Travis Bader (4/5 3-pointers) - 17 each, Donatas Zavackas - 15 (4/4 3-pointers), Mindaugas Girdžiūnas - 11 (6 assists), Daniel Ewing - 9, Jerai Grant - 8 (9 rebounds), Arvydas Šikšnius - 7, and Simas Galdikas - 6 pts.

“Galatasaray”: Errick McCollum - 32 (5/7 3-pointers, 13/13 free-throws, 34 performance index rating), Vladimir Micov - 18 (7/7 2-pointers, 4/4 free-throws), Caleb Green - 16 (5/5 2-pointers), and Stephane Lasme 11 (7 rebounds).

For more photos press here. Authors of the photos - Andrius Pelakauskas & Matas Baranauskas (www.fotopolis.eu)

After throwing a serious challenge to the mighty team Istanbul, “Galatasaray”, Dainius Adomaitis, head coach of “Neptūnas” was pleased with how his players fought - the players of “Neptūnas” lost only by a 4 point difference in this Eurocup match in Klaipėda - 90:94 and only at the last seconds.

“Great performance by the men, they fought really well. In my opinion we should have won this kind of a game because we played really well. We especially fought aggressively and intensively on the offence. We wanted to maintain the high rhythm of the game because we knew that the opposing team is practically standing on eight players. Even so, the opponents are of high skill and they turned our every mistake into points or even a foul and two points. We were thrown off in the start of the third quarter when Daniel Ewing, the main player of the team, suffered a trauma in the groin. It is not easy to fight without the main player. We were confused for a few minutes, but I can praise the men that they got their act together and fought until the end. It is difficult to say at the moment whether Daniel’s trauma is serious, the medics will perform tests and tell us more”, said the coach after the match.

He warmly replied about the fans that gathered in “Švyturio Arena” and the great lingering atmosphere there.

“Those emotions, the adrenaline that the fans invoke are what makes the players go forward. It impairs the opponents and helps us. The fans are like a sixth player in the basketball court. They were great and honest; thank you for such support”, thanked D. Adomaitis.

Martynas Mažeika, the captain of the team “Neptūnas” was downhearted because victory against the Turkish stars was at their hand’s reach.

“We know that the goals of “Galatasaray” are of the highest. They want to win the Eurocup and come back to Euroleague. They truly gathered a lot of capable players, but you can still fight with them. And now we will not go to Turkey with a lost heart or come to terms of defeat beforehand - we need to fight and try to defeat them. This time we ran out of luck, we did not carry out the task that the coach stated on how to get rebounds on the defense. We knew who we played against; we need to fight with teams like that the whole 40 minutes. By the way, we missed a lot of throws. If we had made half of what we had missed, the result would probably be different”, said M. Mažeika, stating the reasons for the loss.

In this match, the team “Galatasaray” was coach by Yagizer Ulug. He was substituting Ergin Ataman who is in the hospital due to lung inflammation.

“I would like to thank the players from both teams for a great fight until the end of the match. It was a really difficult match. We felt the stress and uncertainty until the end. “Neptūnas” is a great team and it will succeed in the future”, said Y. Ulug, sharing his thoughts.