LTU - Lithuanian League round-up

Lietuvos rally late to see off Siauliau

VILNIUS (Lietuvos Krepsinio Lyga) - Lietuvos Rytas left it very late but in the end did just enough to edge out Siauliau 86-83.

The home side trailed for most of the game and were down by 12 in the final frame, but they outscored their opponents 30-15 in the period and had Steponas Babrauskas to thank for his late heroics as they stayed top of the table with 17 wins and one loss.

Babrauskas rained one three-pointer after another, hitting three in the last two minutes of the game to seal the come-from-behind victory.

However, the final result was not to Lietuvos head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis' liking.

"A bad game. I'm very disappointed with the team's effort and the lack of dedication from our players, who already thought that a victory against Siauliai was a given," he said.

"I'll be honest, we didn't deserve this win. Siauliai played much better, more aggressively and more accurately.

"We are a Euroleague team and committed 18 turnovers while Siauliai had just nine. I think that this is the biggest problem for our players."

Martynas Gecevicius finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists to lead Lietuvos Rytas, but had four turnovers whilst playing the point guard position for most of the game.

Babrauskas was the true hero of the night, leading the hosts' surge by scoring the final six points, which turned out to be the difference. He finished with 15 points and grabbed five boards while also drawing eight fouls.

"There are three new players on our team. Jonas Valanciunas doesn't know the plays, Igor Milosevic doesn't know what he's supposed to do on the court. Only Kenan Bajramovic is getting into the game fairly well," Kurtinaitis added.

Siauliai forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a game-high 27 points with a handful of dunks. He also hauled seven rebounds and hit on three of six three-point attempts. American playmaker Derrick Low added 17, handed out five assists but committed one of his two turnovers at a crucial moment late in the game.

Meanwhile, Zalgiris got their 15th win of the season when they overcame Rudupis Prienai 84-75.

The club from Kaunas were up 43-35 at the break but the visitors used a strong third quarter to tie it at 65 all heading into the final quarter where their offense dried up, as they scored just 10 points.

Zalgiris' Tadas Klimavicius had a game-high 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds while Mantas Kalnietis added 13, Martynas Pocius netted 12 and Aleksandar Capin finished with 11.

Gintautas Vileita had a team-best 20 for Rudupis.

Elsewhere, Juventus Utena slumped to an unexpected 74-55 home defeat against last-place Nevezis.

Darius Gvezdauskas led the way with a game-high 20 points to go along with seven assists for the surprise winners.

Egidijus Dimsa added a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds while Darius Silinskis grabbed an impressive 16 boards.

Tomas Gaidamavicius' 15 points and eight assists weren't enough for the hosts, who led 15-14 at the end of the opening period but lost every quarter thereafter.



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