It took only three games for Rudupis to win the bronze-medal series with the last victory coming after late drama in Prienai, as the hosts took an 84-83 (26-28, 25-17, 14-17, 19-21) victory over the visiting Juventus side.
“We deserved the third place after a good season and it wouldn’t have been fair if we had lost. With that said, I did not expect a sweep,” said Virginijus Seskus, the coach of Rudupis after the game.
What is probably most amazing about Rudupis’ triumph is that a small town like Prienai with about only 10,000 inhabitants managed to squeeze onto the podium. On the other hand, this was already the fourth straight year when Juventus, their opponents, finished fourth – twice in the LKL and twice in the second tier (NKL) before that.
Adas Juskevicius scored 22 points in the last game of the season for Rudupis, Gediminas Orelik had 21, while Povilas Butkevicius and Edgaras Zelionis collected 18 and 8 points respectively.
For Juventus it was the likes of Aurimas Kieza, with 20 points, and Arunas Vasiliauskas, who scored 16, leading the team. Gediminas Maceina and Zydrunas Urbonas both finished the game with 12 each as Vaidas Cepukaitis added 11 points.
