Lietuvos Rytas outlasts Perlas in dying seconds

Perlas was just off from what would have been a sensational victory against Lietuvos Rytas at the start of the Lithuanian League (LKL) playoffs. The young team, that could practically be called Lietuvos Rytas' secondary squad was edged 86:92 (20:27, 25:27, 27:18, 14:20) by the more experienced opponents and are now trailing 0-1 in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.

Kenan Bajramovic was impressive for the Euroleague team with 25 points and 6 rebounds while Martynas Gecevicius nailed in 21. Steponas Babrauskas finished with 14 points as Jonas Valanciunas and Igor Milosevic, who also added 7 rebounds, both had 10.

Perlas found an unexpected leader in Tautvydas Slezas, who dominated under the rim and scored 13 points with the opponents missing front-line power as Aron Baynes and Milko Bjelica sat the game out due to injuries. Eimantas Bendzius and Lukas Brazdauskis shared 12 each while Giedrius Staniulis and Deividas Nazarovas contributed with 11 and 10 respectively.

The LKL debutants held a four-point lead in the middle of the last period at 76:72 when Lietuvos Rytas raced back in front with the combined effort from Donatas Zavackas, Martynas Gecevicius and Steponas Babrauskas - 83:80.

It was all-square with ten seconds on the clock with Lietuvos Rytas with the possession of the ball. Gecevicius nailed a mid-range two-pointer and after Perlas' 23 turnover of the game Simas Buterlevicius converted all of the free-throws to seal the victory.