VILNIUS — Lietuvos Rytas shaped up and played solid on a return home, defeating Entente Orléanaise 77-72 in latest Eurocup action.

The victory has put Lietuvos Rytas’ Eurocup campaign back on track, after it had been slightly derailed following back-to-back losses in recent weeks.

The win briefly puts them back into third place in their pool, but with more games yet to be played this week, it waits to be seen if they can remain in this position. The win, as good as it may seem, is nothing to get too excited about as it came at the expense of a weak Entente Orléanaise squad that’s yet to win a game. This coupled with the fact that it was anything but one-way traffic means improvements need to be made in Vilnius if they are to be a force to be reckoned with in the next round.

Following an opening period, in which Lietuvos Rytas opened an impressive 13-point lead (23-10), the 5,000-strong crowd began to believe the result was already a done deal.

However Entente Orléanaise had other through with an almost exact reversal of scores in the second period as the Frenchmen fought back to be trailing by just four at half-time (38-34).

Lietuvos Rytas head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis must have had the right words to say at half-time with his troops recovering from their second period slump to build on their lead, taking a six-point lead (61-55) into the final period.

Entente Orléanaise proved they were not going to roll over and die, fighting hard in the final period, more than matching hosts point for point. However, the six-point deficit proved too much to overcome, seeing Lietuvos Rytas take the game 77-72.

Donatas Zavackas led the way for the home side with 20 points and four steals to go with it. For the visitors, Austin Nichols top-scored off the bench with 16.

Kurtinaitis was quick to acknowledge the opposition saying that they had thrown up a touch game but perhaps just lack some of the experience needed at the top level. “I have to say we were pretty lucky in the end,” he told the press.

One more win should assure Lietuvos Rytas of advancing to the final 16.