CSKA became the first quarterfinalist of Euroleague. In the fourth game of Top 16 Army men defeated Lietuvos Rytas - 79-69. CSKA led 11 points after the first half but lost that advantage in the third quarter. So our players had to fight in the end. And they were successful.
CSKA-Lietuvos Rytas: 79-69
Ettore Messina, CSKA head coach
-We played good for the first 20 minutes and managed to build a lead. But the second half came harder for us. The reason was not that we were relaxed. Lietuvos Rytas had small line up on the court and guarded better against Smodis. We were trying to give the ball anyhow to the forward and that was the mistake as our guards did not even try to shoot themselves. The mistake cost us a lot. In the last quarter things were better. With the help of the zone deffence we managed to have 4-5 points advantage and had some good play in the end from Smodis, Langdon and Vanterpool. This game shows pretty well that we should not try to tune up to opponents game completely.
Neven Spahija, Lietuvos Rytas head coach
- I want to congratulate CSKA and the head coach of the team Ettore Messina with the win and qualifying to the play offs. They were just a better team tonight. For as it was a miracle to be close to CSKA for 35 minutes with Mujezinovic and Nielsen absence. We lost the chances with a couple of minutes to go when all our big guys left the court. It is impossible to win a game of the kind of quality without centers.
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