LTU - Lietuvos Rytas hold off Zalgiris to retain cup

VILNIUS (Lithuanian Basketball Federation Cup) – Lietuvos Rytas retained the Lithuanian Cup by beating Zalgiris 77-65 in the final for the second year in a row.

Martynas Gecevicius was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the hosts with 18 points – including a four-of-five shooting display from three-point range – and doing a splendid job defensively on Zalgiris’ key player Marcus Brown.

Milko Bjelica also had 18 for the winners and grabbed seven rebounds while Arturas Jomantas had a solid all-around game with 14 points, five boards, four assists and a couple of steals.

Zalgiris’ Tadas Klimavicius was deserving of praise and accolades for a great stats line and sheer determination. The power forward recorded game-highs of 21 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for a performance index total of 40.

Martynas Pocius had 15 points while Brown and Dainius Salenga added 12 and eight respectively.

Meanwhile, Siauliai came from behind to edge out Nevezis 79-76 in the battle for third place.

Derrick Low had a team-high 23 points and dished out six assists while Deivydas Gailius added 21 in the winning cause.

Nevezis’ Mantas Simonavicius finished with a game-high 27 points, hitting on seven of 16 three-point attempts, while team-mate Rolandas Alijevas came close to a triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

In Friday’s first semi-final, Zalgiris cruised to an unexpectedly easy 94-69 victory over Siauliai. Aleksandar Capin paced Zalgiris with 16 points and six assists, while Pocius and Mantas Kalnietis had 14 points each and Brown chipped in with 12.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a team-high 14 points for Siauliai while Gailius was the team’s only other player to score in double-digits with 12.

In the other semi-final, Lietuvos Rytas cruised Nevezis Kedainiai 97-63.

Bosnian big man Kenan Bajramovic led the home side with a game-high 25 points, while Jonas Valanciunas added 15 and Justas Sinica had 14.

Nevezis’ Egidijus Dimsa led his side with 16 points and 8 rebounds as Gytis Maciulevicius connected on 3-of-4 of his long-range attempts to bring his tally to 10 points.

FIBA