The game-winner came after Jasaitis grabbed a long rebound and went up for a mid-range jumper, which swished the net, sending the home crowd into cheers. Milko Bjelica had nailed the first two free throws of the three he was awarded after being fouled on a desperation shot from deep.
Arturas Jomantas had his best game of the season by far and was the main contributor to the win, finishing the game with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, which brought him a total ranking of 36.
“We lacked the help of some our key players and only Arturas Jomantas’ efforts kept us in the game. Of course, the most important thing is that we did get the victory,” said Lietuvos Rytas coach Aleksandr Trifunovic, adding that he feels that playing with a different roster, after El-Amin was forced to leave with an injury, has its difficulties.
Lietuvos Rytas’ big man from Bosnia, Kenan Bajramovic, was the leading scorer in the game with 23 points after nailing 11-of-12 from the line, Simas Jasaitis had 14 points and 7 rebounds, while Milko Bjelica finished with 10 points for the side from the capital.
“Did we lose a game that was already won? You can’t really say so. A game is won only when you really win it. If you lose – that’s what it means – you lost,” Antanas Sireika, the coach of Siauliai, said after the game. “We were up by three points in the end. The foul was a normal one, but referees managed to see a shooting-foul. But that actually didn’t mean anything, as Bjelica missed the last one and we just couldn’t grab the rebound.”
Edvinas Ruzgas, who won the three-point contest during the weekend in the All-Star day, led Siauliai in scoring with 19 points, Vytautas Sarakauskas was a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 boards, as Mindaugas Zukauskas and Darius Gvezdauskas added 12 each.
