Lithuanian champions Zalgiris Kaunas lifted yet another trophy in Siauliu Arena after they defeated Lietuvos Rytas in Baltic Basketball League final. DeJuan Collins led Zalgiris in the first quarter with 17 points. Rytas looked sleepy and were behind 12-28 after 10 minutes.
In the second half the fight became even tougher. Still Zalgiris maintained the lead. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Lietuvos Rytas cut the lead to only one point after Kenan Bajramovic made a lay-up. With 10 seconds to go Rytas was behind by 3 points. Bajramovic stepped up again and hit a crucial 3-pointer to tie the game at 82-82.
Goran Jurak hit and Hollis Price hit both of their free-throws and the score was tied again at 84-84. Zalgiris had the ball with 4 seconds on the clock. It was enough for DeJuan Collins to become the hero of the game. DC penetrated to the basket and made a reverse lay-up with 0.5 seconds on the clock.
This is already the 2nd trophy for Zalgiris. They defeated Lietuvos Rytas in Lithuanian Basketball Federation final in the same Siauliu Arena. Nobody has any doubts that these two teams will also meet in the final series of Lithuanian league. For Rytas it will be a chance to win their only trophy this season but also the most important one.
Lietuvos Rytas 84-86 Zalgiris
Rytas: Chuck Eidson 16, Kenan Bajramovic 16, Hollis Price 15, Matthew Nielsen 14, Mindaugas Lukauskis 10, Marijonas Petravicius 7, Jarred Jordan 6.
Zalgiris: DeJuan Collins 29, Marcus Brown 24, Jonas Maciulis 9, Paulius Jankunas 8, Goran Jurak 7, Marko Popovic 5, Dainius Salenga 2, Damir Markota 2.
