BADALONA (Spain) - It took them six seasons to get all the way to a Final Four in the Basketball Champions League, powered by Ameresco SUNEL. On Thursday, their presence was felt all over Badalona.
Season X was already an historic one for Rytas Vilnius, but on Thursday, they raised the bar even higher, putting their name in the Championship Game for the first time in the Lithuanian club's history.
Pushed by a fantastic wave of black-white-and-red fans, who walked throughout the whole city on their way to the Palau Municipal d'Esports de Badalona, they took down La Laguna Tenerife 85-69 in the Semi-Finals.
They became the 13th different team to reach the Final.
Turning point
With the two teams entering the Semi-Finals scoring in back-and-forth, Rytas created separation in the second quarter, as two dunks by Martynas Paliukenas and Kay Bruhnke made the Lithuanian fans erupt in the stands.
Giedrius Zibenas' team increased the lead to 11 points (47-36) with 7:20 to play in the third quarter, and Tenerife had never overcome a BCL Semi-Final in which they were down by more than 10 points.
Led by Marcelinho Huertas and Fran Guerra, the powerhouse from the Canary Islands reduced the gap to one possession (49-46) with four minutes to go before the final stanza in Badalona.
However, Rytas responded perfectly to Txus Vidorreta's comeback attempt, getting ahead once again by 11 points (60-49) thanks to Gytis Masiulis' three from the top. In the final stanza, they secured the crucial win, going up by as many as 19 points.
Player of the Game
In the first game of Season X for Rytas, against Legia Warszawa, Jerrick Harding landed roughly on his back and was forced to exit the court. It looked terrible, and everybody immediately felt alarmed.
Seven months in the making, he made everything work well for his team in Badalona, faking and making, attacking the basket with ease, and finishing with 29 points (10-of-15 2PTS FG) and 5 assists.
Only one player has had more in a BCL Semi-Final, as Kyle Guy had 34pts for Tenerife against Peristeri in 2024.
If that wasn't enough, he has scored 25 points in seven different BCL games, a joint-most in league history alongside Kevin Punter, Levi Randolph, and Keith Langford. What a night for Rytas' No. 10!
Stats don't lie
1:01 minutes. This was the amount of time when Tenerife had the lead against Rytas in the first of the two Semi-Finals at the BCL Final Four in Badalona. It speaks volumes about the Lithuanians' dominance.
In a game where both teams shot roughly from beyond the arc (Rytas 26.1%, Tenerife 13.3%), they outscored the opponents in points in the paint (38-22). Moreover, they won the assists battle 20-11.
Bottom line
Entering this season's BCL Final Four, Tenerife players collectively had 36 appearances at this stage in the competition. For Rytas, only one player showed up at a BCL Final Four in the past: Speedy Smith.
The last time he was at the most anticipated phase of the season, he only had 2 points against Tenerife in the 2023 Semi-Finals, playing for Hapoel Jerusalem. On Thursday, he had 12 over 4-of-5 FG.
The American point guard will once again compete for the title on Saturday alongside all of his teammates in Rytas. They will find out their opponent in the second Semi-Final between AEK and Unicaja.
On the other hand, Tenerife haven't been able to advance to the Championship Game for the second consecutive season, as they lost in the 2024-25 Semi-Finals too, that time against Galatasaray MCT Technic.
Despite the loss, Marcelinho Huertas put up another masterful performance, finishing with 21 points (8-of-15 FG, 5-of-5 FT) and 5 assists in his team's defeat.
He has now scored 20 or more points in three of his five BCL Semi-Finals, while no other player has done it more than once. It was the Brazilian point guard's 14th game with 20 or more points scored in the BCL.
They said
"I just wanna say thank you to my coaches and my teammates for always giving me confidence and allowing me to be me. It’s been tough this last month. I’ve been in and out of the lineup and all the things to get frustrated, but they’ve always kept my head high. I just kept my head down, kept working, and tried to show up in moments like this". - Rytas' Jerrick Harding.
"Have to give Rytas a lot of credit, they played really physical. They made more shots than us; we’re not gonna win many games making two 3-pointers. We couldn’t find our flow. I just think we suffered on both ends of the court. All credit to them, they played a good game, I wouldn’t be surprised if they win this thing on Saturday". - Tenerife's Tim Abromaitis