Having
wasted a 17-point lead, Zalgiris were forced to grind out a 76-74 (28-18, 16-22, 14-21, 18-13) victory against the visiting
eight-man Rudupis side at home in Kaunas on Sunday evening.
The win
allowed Zalgiris to maintain an unbeaten record in the Lithuanian League (LKL),
moving to 11-0, while for Rudupis, who also have 11 victories, it was the third
loss of the season.
Coming into
the last quarter, Zalgiris were down by three points at 58-61, but managed to
regain the momentum and already had a nine-point lead with a couple of minutes
left in the game.
However,
Rudupis mounted a 7-0 run and even had a chance to win the game in the last possession,
but Mantas Kalnietis blocked Gedminas Orelik’s three-point attempt.
Sonny Weems
led the home team with 19 points, Milovan Rakovic scored 15, while Mantas
Kalnietis and Paulius Jankunas both chipped in with 14 points.
Rudupis only
registered eight players for the game, but that didn’t prevent the side from
Prienai from causing trouble for the defending Lithuanian champions.
Seven of the eight players scored at least eight points, with Arnas Labuckas finishing with a team-high
14, Adas Juskevicius had 13, while Povilas Butkevicius ended the game with 10 points.
