Two teams met in Kaunas for the Lithuanian League (LKL) night, as reigning champs Zalgiris were defending their stronghold from the visitors Siauliai. The game ended 104-84 (28-29, 20-19, 26-11, 30-25).
It looked like Zalgiris are going to gain the lead from the very beginning and had an edge of six points with five minutes to play in the first quarter, although Siauliai quickly got back and ended up with a one-point lead after the first ten minutes.
In the second quarter, the situation remained the same. Both teams kept scoring at will and left the court with the game tied before the break - 48-48.
Siauliai started the third quarter with four-nothing run, but Tomas Delininkaitis made two three-pointers in a row once again. The gap between the teams began to grow, as the home side scored 16 consecutive points, while Siauliai answered with just two to fall behind 74-59 after three quarters.
In the decisive part of the match Zalgiris did their best to keep a safe distance. With four minutes played in the fourth quarter, the Greens already had an 18 points lead. Siauliai couldn't find an answer to what Zalgiris offered and left the court with their second loss in this years' LKL season, meanwhile Zalgiris remains unbeaten with five victories.
Tadas Klimavicius led Zalgiris with 17 points, Tomas Delininkaitis scored 16, while Ty Lawson finished the game with 15 points.
Mantas Kalnietis scored 12 points on four-of-four shooting from downtown, Paulius Jankunas added nine points and 11 rebounds, as Marko Popovic contributed with nine points.
Cameron Long scored 18 points for Siauliai, Denzel Bowles had 17 points and nine boards, while Valdas Vasylius added a good performance of 11 points and seven rebounds.
Antanas Sireika (Siauliai head coach): "You saw everything by yourself. We wanted to continue playing how we were doing it in the first half, but we played how they let us play. I have to admit that Zalgiris at this moment is stronger than us."
Aleksandr Trifunovic (Zalgiris head coach): "At first, congratulations to the people who came in such a big number, we need that kind of support. That's what keeps us doing what we're doing from day to day. Tonight we played pretty much with a good energy, looked aggressive all the time, but sometimes our efforts looked senseless, because we were giving them easy turnovers and were too much nervous defensively. Generally, I think the difference in the end was objective."
