Robinson leads Cedevita to third win, 76-72
Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana returned to winning ways in Group B by downing 7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys 76-72 at Stozice Arena in the Slovenian capital on Wednesday. Cedevita improved to 3-1 in the standings after leading from start to finish. Lietkabelis dropped to 0-4.
Devin Robinson led the winners with 17 points. Jaka Blazic added 14 while Devante Jones and DJ Stewart had 10 for Cedevita. Mantas Rubstavicius paced Lietkabelis with 13 points. Andrija Stipanovic scored 13 and Marko Pecarski 12 and Oleksandr Kovliar each netted 12 for the visitors. Pecarski also collected 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Martynas Geben got Cedevita going with a jumper which Blazic followed with a three-point play for a 5-0 lead. Stewart bettered Gabrielius Maldunas's jump hook with a bomb from downtown. Pecarski and Stipanovic each scored down low to keep Lietkabelis within 9-6. Jones scored in transition and got help from Blazic to restore a 13-6 Cedevita lead. Grantas Vasiliauskas stepped up with an alley-oop layup, Rok Radovic answered from beyond the arc and Stipanovic brought the visitors within 16-10. Jones's driving layup fixed the score at 18-10 after 10 minutes.
Robinson stopped the show with a windmill dunk early in the second quarter. Radovic followed that with a second-chance layup that caused Lietkabelis to call a timeout at 22-10. Robinson ignited the crowd once again with a huge alley-oop slam, capping an 8-0 Cedevita run. Maldunas and Radovic traded layups, then Dovis Bickauskis's put-back basket brought the visitors within 26-14. Robinson fed Jones for a floater and buried a three-pointer that broke the game open, 31-14. Blazic sank a corner triple and got help from Nikolic and Stewart to boost the hosts' lead to 43-23 at halftime.
Game Videos
Kovliar tried to ignite a Lietkabelis comeback with back-to-back layups. Robinson hit a three-pointer and Rubstavicius followed Georgios Kalaitzakis's layup with a bomb from downtown, Lietkabelis's first after 33 consecutive misses in the last three games combined. Pecarski also struck from beyond the arc and Rubstavicius's second triple made It a single-digit game, 47-38. Geben and Bickauskis each joined the three-point shootout, then Stipanovic got Lietkabelis even closer, 50-44. Jones stepped up with a floater and a driving layup, then Blazic struck from downtown to keep Cedevita in control at 60-51 after 30 minutes.
Bickauskis banked in a scoop shot early in the fourth quarter. Derek Ogbeide dunked, Martynas Varnas scored in penetration and Robinson's fadeaway jumper set a 66-56 Cedevita lead. Geben buried a three-pointer and found Robinson for a high-flying reverse layup. Geben went on to block a shot that allowed Robinson to score at the other end for a 71-58 Cedevita lead. Pecarski and Kovliar brought Lietkabelis within 75-68 already in the final minutes, causing Cedevita to call timeout with 22.8 seconds left. Stipanovic scored twice in the paint and then Stewart and Ziga Daneu sealed the outcome from the foul line.