Despite a different path to the final, Zalgiris
and Pieno Zvaigzdes are the two remaining teams in the running for the
Lithuanian Cup after defeating their opponents in the semifinals on Friday
evening in Kaunas.
Zalgiris directly qualified to the Final Four of the tournament and passed the semifinal challenge by Kedainiai with flying colors, defeating the visitors 87-73 (25-16, 26-18, 13-17, 23-22) in the first game of the day.
- You can check out the moments from the game in our photo gallery.
Robertas Javtokas and Sonny Weems led the Kaunas club with 15 points
each, with Javtokas also adding eight rebounds, Milovan Rakovic scored 14,
while Mantas Kalnietis finished the game with 13 points in his account.
Egidijus Dimsa was the top-scorer in the game with 18 points and seven rebounds,
Paulius Beliavicius scored 12, while former Zalgiris guard Vidas Ginevicius was
the only other player in double-digits with 10 points for Kedainiai.
In the second semifinal of the day, Pieno Zvaigzdes came back from a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 68-67 (16-15, 15-20, 15-18, 22-14) victory over Rudupis.
- You can check out the moments from the game in our photo gallery.
The two sides had met in the quarterfinal stage, where Rudupis came out
on top, but the fact that Lietuvos Rytas pulled out of the competition gave
Pieno Zvaigzdes another chance, on which they capitalized by outmatching
Siauliai in an extra qualifying round.
Trevon Hughes led Pieno Zvaigzdes with a game-high 23 points on 6-of-10
shooting from beyond the three-point line, Sylvester Morgan scored 17 points,
while Eimantas Bendzius finished the game with eight.
Brazilian center Paulo Prestes made his debut for the Pasvalys side, but
played only three minutes, scoring two points and grabbing a single rebound,
also committing two fouls.
Gintaras Kadziulis was the leading scorer for the losing side with 20
points, while Arturas Milaknis and Arnas Labuckas collected 12 points each for
Rudupis.
