USAK (Basketball Champions League) – Neptunas Klaipeda sent shock-waves around the Basketball Champions League on Wednesday night with their 67-65 triumph at Muratbey Usak Sportif in the first game for both sides in Group C.

The Lithuanian team who has been struggling at the start of their domestic LKL league used a 9-0 run midway through the opening quarter to grab an 18-9 lead and never looked back. Neptunas led by as many as 15 points early in the third frame and despite the fact Usak threw everything at them down the stretch, the visitors held on until the final buzzer.

"We understand that we are defending not only the honour of Klaipeda, but also the honour of Lithuania," said Neptunas captain Martynas Mazeika. "We went out on the court and fought with heart. It is very important to start the Basketball Champions League with this victory. We will try to keep it up and celebrate a win also against Varese in front of our fans in Klaipeda next week."

Neptunas's half-court defence cemented their win as they held Usak to just 37% shooting from the floor, including a damning 6-of-32 from three-point range. Whenever Usak were allowed to run in transition they were successful and scored 12 points in open play, but Neptunas kept such concessions to a minimum.

Larry Drew paved the way for the winners with a double-double of 17 points and 10 assists and Jerai Grant chipped in with 13 points and six rebounds, while Berkay Candan had a game-high 20 points in a losing effort.