Plangas Olympas beat Kretinga 98:85 in the NKL on Wednesday. The hosts have now moved on from a run of heavy defeats, while the visitors' away form continues to struggle. The result keeps both sides in their respective positions near the bottom of the table.
Plangas sit 16th after 32 games with seven wins and 25 losses. Kretinga are 11th with 15 victories and 17 defeats. Neither side has changed position as a result of this match, though the gap between them remains the same.
The home side lost 70:90 to Telsiai and 85:92 to Šilutė in their last two outings before this game. They had shown flashes of competitiveness earlier in the season, beating Omeka-Tauras 98:89 and Palanga 79:72 in March. Kretinga, meanwhile, lost 65:84 to Vilkauskis and 76:91 to Klaipeda on their recent fixtures.
And here's the thing — the prediction was for a home win, and it came through. The confidence level was 53 per cent, which is not much to lean on, but Plangas at home against a side that has struggled away from home made sense. Kretinga have lost four of their last five matches and are finding it difficult to score.
By then the visitors had already dropped points in every away game this month. They were 107:103 winners against Šakiai Vytis in April, but since then the results have gone the other way. Plangas have not won in their last two games, but this scoreline puts them on a different trajectory.
The final margin of 13 points is not a statement of dominance, but it is enough. Both sides remain in the lower half of the table, and the season is far from over. What matters now is whether Plangas can build momentum or if Kretinga can find consistency away from home.