Zalgiris fired past Lietuvos Rytas in Vilnius and conquered the LKL title. The guests were tied at the half but managed to speed up in last two quarters eventually winning the game. Zalgiris had a 32-19 advantage in offensive rebounds. 28 personal fouls committed by Lietuvos rytas helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. Worth to mention a great performance of the former international Paulius Jankunas (205-84) who helped to win the game recording a double-double by scoring 10 points and 11 rebounds and international guard Arturas Milaknis (195-86) who added 17 points during the contest. At the losing side international swingman Gediminas Orelikas (199-90) responded with 20 points and American point guard Billy Baron (188-90, college: Canisius) scored 14 points. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Top scorers: Lietuvos rytas: G.Orelikas 20+1reb, B.Baron 14+2reb+1ast, K.Lavrinovic 8+2reb+1ast, A.Juskevicius 7+6reb+2ast, M.Moser 6+4reb, M.Lukauskis 5+1reb+1ast Zalgiris: A.Milaknis 17+3reb+1ast, W.Cherry 16+3reb+1ast, J.Anderson 11+2reb, P.Jankunas 10+11reb, R.Javtokas 8+8reb+1ast, S.Vene 7+5reb+2ast
Juventus surged ahead in the consolation final series versus Neptunas following a road victory in Game 3. Neptunas was ahead by 1 point after three quarters before a 22-10 charge of Juventus, which allowed them to win the game. They dominated down low during the game scoring 40 of its points in the paint compared to Neptunas' 20. Neptunas was plagued by 24 personal fouls down the stretch. The winners were led by forward Arvydas Siksnius (196-87, college: Weatherford JC) who scored that evening 16 points and 5 rebounds and power forward Vaidas Cepukaitis (207-89, agency: Interperformances) supported him with 16 points and 5 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field). Even 17 points and 7 rebounds by American point guard Mustafa Shakur (192-84, college: Arizona) did not help to save the game for Neptunas. Guard Martynas Mazeika (192-85, agency: Interperformances) added 8 points for lost side. Neptunas' coach Kazys Maksvytis rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. Top scorers: Neptunas: M.Shakur 17+7reb+3ast, V.Vasylius 10+1reb, D.Zavackas 8+2reb+1ast, M.Mazeika 8+4reb+1ast, I.Nelyubov 8+2reb, A.Butkevicius 4+3reb Juventus: V.Cepukaitis 16+5reb, A.Siksnius 16+5reb+3ast, E.Stanionis 9+5reb+1ast, S.Kulvietis 9+1reb+2ast, R.Broadus 8+5reb+2ast, N.Barinov 8+1reb+2ast
gschID: 393848
Zalgiris claim Cup title - Feb 22, 2015
Zalgiris - Lietuvos Rytas 82:76
Lietuvos Rytas looked the better side in the opening quarter. The Vilnius team took a 21:16 lead after ten minutes. But Zalgiris picked up the slack in the second term. The Kaunas powerhouse exploded with 30 points in the quarter to secure a 46:32 halftime advantage. Lietuvos Rytas stopped the bleeding in the third term. They pulled within 6 points at the final intermission. But Zalgiris quickly restored a double-digit lead in the final stanza and never looked back en route to the victory. Edgaras Ulanovas (197-G-92) dropped 16 points to topscore for Zalgiris. Will Cherry (185-PG-91, college: Montana), Siim-Sander Vene (201-SF-90) and Paulius Jankunas (205-PF-84) delivered 12 points each for the winners. Antanas Kavaliauskas (208-C-84, agency: Interperformances, college: Texas A&M) responded with 18 points for Lietuvos Rytas. Martynas Gecevicius (193-G-88) netted 13 points in the defeat.
