“7bet-NKL” debutants “Jurbarkas-Karys” finished the playoffs with a golden march all the way to the Champions Trophy. Povilas Valaitis’ soldiers beat “Kretinga” 89:84 (18:13, 25:16, 15:22, 31:31) in a packed Kretinga sports center and won gold medals.
Jurbarka players, who finished the regular season in fourth place, won the final series 3-1. It was also the first final for Kretinga, who are playing in the 7bet-NKL premiership for the third year.
On the way to it, the Jurbarkas club dealt with “Vyčius-VDU” and “Olimpus” of Palanga, and the Kretinga team – with “Žalgiris-2” of Kaunas, “Telšias” and “Sūduva-Mantinga” of Marijampolė.
Ignas Juškevičius scored the first 9 points for Jurbarki and the fight started hard (9:8), but the visitors went ahead after an 11:2 run and gained a double-digit advantage (27:15). Tomos Delininkaitis had his say in the second quarter and scored 13 points, and the guests had a strong lead after the first half of the duel – 43:29.
In the first half of the match, both teams had a hard time making long shots – Jurbarka players nailed 2 out of 13 attempts (15%), while Kretingi responded with 2 out of 12 attempts (16%).
After the long break, the Kretingi team showed that they are not raising the white flag yet and started the half with a 10:2 score (39:45). The home team, which remained in the fight, had a 7-point difference from their rivals before the decisive 10 minutes – 51:58.
Less than 5 minutes left. Karolis Kokoška crowned the guests’ 11:2 run with a three-pointer (72:59). During the rest of the time, the team from Kretinga was unable to break through the course of the match and had to accept the superiority of the opponents.
“Kretinga”: Mindaugas Stašys 30 (7/12 doubles, 2/7 triples, 7 assists), Nojus Pabrieža 12 (5/7 doubles, 6 rebounds), Ernestas Bružas 10 (2/4 triples ), Edgaras Danys 9 (1/5 triples, 4 fouls), Modestas Jurkaitis and Mantas Ruikis (1/6 triples, 4 rebounds) 8 each, Rytis Zabita 4 (2/5 doubles, 8 rebounds . kam.), Justas Žiubrys 3 (1/5 trit.).
“Jurbarkas-Karys”: Tomas Delininkaitis 21 (4/6 doubles, 6 rebounds, 5 assists), Mindaugas Lukauskis 19 (3/8 triples, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Karolis Kokoška 15 (6/6 doubles, 1/4 triples, 6 rebounds), Vytautas Šarakauskas 14 (3/5 doubles, 8 rebounds), Ignas Juškevičius 9 (4/8 doubles, 4 rebounds) Kam.), Mintautas Bulanovas 6, Lukas Žukauskas 3 (0/5 treys), Aidas Kavaliauskas 2 (7 assists).
