LAT - Lietuvos Rytas beat Zalgiris to Baltic League crown again

RIGA (Baltic League Final Four) - Lietuvos Rytas were forced to hold on at the end but they finally turned back the challenge of Zalgiris Kaunas to capture the Baltic League crown for the second year running.

In a third consecutive title showdown between the giants of Lithuanian basketball, Kareem Rush scored a game-high 22 points to fire the defending champions to an 81-77 triumph.

Zalgiris trailed by as many as 22 late in the third quarter but fought back with Croatian national team point guard Marko Popovic's three-pointer closing the gap to 80-77 with just 14 seconds remaining.

The Kaunas team fouled Arturas Jomantas with 10 seconds, hoping he would miss both free throws.

But the 22-year-old forward made the first and was off target with the second.

Zalgiris rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor with Jonas Maciulis's desperation three four seconds from the end only drawing iron.

Last year, Lietuvos Rytas won the championship 86-74 while in the inaugural Baltic League season in the 2004-05 campaign, Zalgiris edged the Vilnius team 64-60.

Lietuvos Rytas went on a 12-2 run for a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter, Brazilian Joao Paolo Batista leading the way with six points in the period.

A three-point play by Zalgiris' Tanoka Beard closed the gap to 27-23 with 4:31 left in the first half, but the Kaunas side were outscored 14-1 for the remainder of the half to trail 41-24.

Aleksandar Trifunovic's men then pressed home their advantage in the third when three times they led by 22 points, the last at 62-40 with just under three minutes left in the period.

Zalgiris then went on a 10-0 run, Marcelo Machado of Brazil and Lithuanian international Paulius Jankunas each hitting three balls and Popovic making a pair of jumpers.

Lietuvos Rytas did not buckle, and when a Tomas Delininkaitis' shot from the arc gave them a 74-61 advantage with just under four minutes to go, they looked to have finished off Zalgiris.

But Zalgiris coach Rimantas Grigas watched his players launch a great fightback before falling short at the end.

Attendance for the final in the Arena Riga was listed at 8,000.

Helmanis leads Ventspils comeback in third place game

Ventspils defeated Siauliai 94-88 on Saturday to clinch third place at the Baltic League Final Four.

Beaten like drums in their semi-final clashes on Friday, both teams returned to the floor hoping to win what has billed as `The Little Final', with Zalgiris Kaunas and Lietuvos Rytas set to battle for the title later.

Ventspils, the tournament hosts, trailed 27-24 at the end of the first quarter after a Darius Pakamanis three-ball for Siauliai, but Eddie Shannon scored five straight points to spark a 10-1 run for Ventspils at the start of the second as they got their noses in front.

Siauliai, who took part in this year's EuroCup, refused to allow Ventspils to pull away.

They reeled off 12 straight points to surge into a 65-61 advantage with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter.

When Aurimas Kieza and Mantas Ruikis buried back-to-back jump shots for Siauliai at the beginning of the fourth period, Aloyzas Rudys' men led 73-65.

Ventspils' battled back and went on a 14-0 run that lasted just over three minutes.

Veteran Latvian international Uvis Helmanis buried a three-pointer to tie the contest for the last time at 81-81, and another Helmanis shot from the arc capped the spurt and left his team in total control at 88-81.

Attendance for the game was listed as 7,400.

FIBA