Marko Pecarski dominated for the hosts with a career night
Winless Lietkabelis upsets undefeated Bourg, 84-80
7Bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys snapped its four-game losing streak by handing Cosea JL Bourg-en-Bresse its first defeat of the season, 84-80, in the opening game of Round 5 on Tuesday. Marko Pecarski pulled off a man-of-the-game display, going 9-for-9 on field goals and allowing the Lithuanian side to improve their record to 1-4. Having suffered a loss for the first time in the 2024-25 BKT EuroCup campaign, Bourg dropped to 4-1.
Pecarski recorded a team-high 22 points, going a perfect 8-for-8 from inside the arc, 1-for-1 from deep and 3-for-3 from the line. Dovis Bickauskis made 4 triples to end the game on 16 points, Georgios Kalaitzakis scored 14 and Andrija Stipanovic added 11. For the visitors, Xavier Castaneda scored a game-high 23 points and Joel Ayayi netted 11.
Pecarski opened the scoring with a triple, but Brandon Paul set up Kevin Kokila before netting a jumper to put Bourg ahead, 3-4. The back and forth continued, with Pecarski taking his tally to 7 early points for an 11-7 lead. Yet, the visitors responded with a 2-11 run, as Joel Ayayi netred one from beyond the arc to put Bourg back in front, 13-18. Then, Kalaitzakis and Mantas Rubstavicius opened their accounts off the bench, cutting the difference to 18-20 after 10 minutes.
Bourg hit the ground running in the second, with Ayayi scoring two straight baskets to extend its lead to 19-26. A few Bourg turnovers allowed the hosts to go on a 9-2 run, with Martynas Varnas drilling one from deep and Stipanovic netting one from inside to put his team back level, 28-28. Bickauskis beat the buzzer with a triple to give Lietkabelis the lead and Varnas netted another three-pointer for a 34-30 cushion. Then, Bickauskis nailed another triple to take his tally to 10 first-half points before Nelson made 2 from the line to trim the deficit to 39-36 at the break.
Game Videos
Following a quiet first half, where he recorded just 2 points, Castaneda opened the second with two straight triples to put Bourg ahead 41-42. Yet, Pecarski netted from inside and Bickauskis scored his third triple of the clash for a 46-42 Lietkabelis lead. Then, the two teams exchanged blows, with Pecarski taking his tally to 17 points for a 54-47 cushion. Kalaitzakis made a couple of free throws to give Lietkabelis a double-digit lead for the first time in the game, 58-47, but Bourg responded with a 3-9 run capped off by a Castaneda triple just before the third-quarter buzzer.
Stipanovic netted two straight buckets to open the closing quarter, but baskets from Mehdy Ngouama, Castaneda and Jordan Usher brought Bourg within 65-62. Yet, a Pecarski monster block on Castaneda shifted the momentum, with Bickauskis and Kalaitzakis netting one each from deep to extend Lietkabelis’s lead to 75-64 with 03:32 left on the clock. The visitors tightened up their defense and a few trips to the charity stripe brought them within 77-75 with 1 minute remaining. Then, Kalaitzakis made 1 of 2 from the line before Castaneda scored a floater, 78-77. But Pecarski netted a huge buzzer-beating jumper before two free throws from Kalaitzakis clinched it for the hosts.