Recovering from a painful defeat in the capital, Kaunas “Žalgiris” (26-4) closed the regular season of the Lithuanian Basketball League (Betsafe-LKL) at home with a confident victory 92:62 (26:15, 23:19, 24:7, 19:21) did not spare Utena’s Uniclub Casino – Juventus (18-12).
Uteniški already know that they will face Panevėžys “7bet-Lietkabel” in the quarter-final series, while Žalgiris still have to wait for their opponents. It is not clear how the 7th-8th places will be divided between Mazeikiai’s “M Basket-Delamode” (11-18) and Jonava’s “CBet” (11-19).
Both teams will start the quarterfinals on May 12.
“Žalgiris” started the match solidly and in the first four minutes allowed the team from Ute to score just two points. This is how the Kaunas pulled away 13:2, and Lukas Lekavičius and Demetre Rivers allowed the home team to keep control in their hands – 26:15.
Although the Utenese players revived the attack a bit, and the difference was reduced to single digits (21:28), Andrea Trinchieri asked for a break, after which “Žalgiris” made a 14:1 run and was far away again – 42:22. This time – by a crushing margin.
Uteniks found themselves in the hole and, thanks to Ryan Taylor, trailed 34:49 before the long break. However, after the big break, “Žalgiris” entered the field better, started to move away and did not allow the guests to score points for almost seven minutes. 15:0 – that’s how A. Trinchieri’s pupils looked like – 61:34. It was finally interrupted by Z. Simmons. Finally, in the third quarter, Uniclub Casino – Juventus scored 7 points and trailed 41-73 after that.
7 points in a quarter is a season record for Uteniks.
There were another 10 minutes ahead, but they were just a formality. Neds Montvila and Daniel Lavrinovičius already stepped on the floor, “Žalgiris” relaxed a bit and allowed the opponents to soften the result.
Until now, Uniclub Casino – Juventus’ season’s anti-record of points reached 63 points, so this match recorded the worst performance of the season.
Ivan Vraneš was already registered for the match after the suspension, but he did not run on the floor.
“Zalgiris”: Tomas Dimša 16 (5/6 triples), Kevarrius Hayes 14 (5/5 doubles, 6 rebounds, 29 nb), Demetre Rivers 13 (5/6 doubles, 1/4 triples), Lauryns Birutis 12 (6/10 doubles, 4 rebounds), Keenan Evans 11 (4/4 doubles, 4 assists), Lukas Lekavičius 8 (2/5 triples), Rolands Šmitsas 7 (1/ 4 triples), Brady Maneks 5 (5 rebounds), Danielius Lavrinovičius 3, Edgaras Ulanovas 2 (4 assists), Dovydas Giedraitis 1.
Uniclub Casino-Juventus: Ryan Taylor 13 (4/7 doubles, 4 rebounds), Ajdin Penava 8, Tahjon Starks (2/5 doubles, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls), Zachary Simmons (3/5 doubles , 5 rebounds), Evaldas Šaulys and Šarūnas Beniušis (4 rebounds) each, Dayshonas Smith (4 rebounds) and Marius Valinskas (2/7 doubles, 4 rebounds) 5 each , Žygymantas Skučas 3.
