LKL: Zalgiris wins on the road in Panevezys 0

Zalgiris Kaunas players did not have a lot of trouble in Panevezys, where they played against Lietkabelis team in Lithuanian League on Sunday. Zalgiris had to fight without Sarunas Jasikevicius and Martynas Pocius who had minor injuries. It was not a problem for the greens as they defeated opponents 76-64 (22-19, 15-13, 25-12, 14-20) and won the thirteenth time in 18 matches.

Kaunas team tried to use their advantage under the basket in the beginning of the match. Lietkabelis struggled to stop Zalgiris‘ captain Paulius Jankunas who made both free-throws and a three-pointer, but the foreigners allowed the hosts to resist Lithuanian champions (12-11). Robertas Javtokas was grabbing one ball after another and successfully repeating missed teammates‘ shots while Justin Dentmon was punishing the hosts by hitting from a distance. After the first quarter Zalgiris had a three-point lead – 22-19.

In the second period Javtokas continued successful performance by hitting the two-pointer, captain Jankunas netted his second three-pointer (27-25). Then the greens tried to run away. Zalgiris played well on defense and often tried their luck from the three-point range. Arturas Milaknis and Dentmon were fortunate in hitting long range shots, Tadas Klimavicius made a hook shot and the advantage grew to twelve points – 37-25. At the end of the first half Kaunas team was unable to score more points – 37-32.

Within the first five minutes of the third period Lietkabelis did not even think about the effective attack. Zalgiris scored 13 points in a row and sent Panevezys’ team into time-out with the score 50-32. The biggest lead of the greens was reached with the help of Dentmon. The point guard stole the ball, provoked a technical foul and not only made both free-throws, but also hit his fourth three-pointer. The youngster Arturas Gudaitis scored his first points by being exact at the free-throw line and the advantage of Kaunas’ team reached 18 points – 62-44.

Ten points in three minutes helped Lietkabelis to cut the lead and only two great episodes under the basket by Javtokas allowed Zalgiris to sustain a double-digit advantage (66-54). The time out of Kaunas coach Gintaras Krapikas stabilized the situation. Jankunas made a two-pointer, Javtokas added a free-throw, Dentmon hit a common three-pointer – 72-56. At the end of the game Zalgiris allowed the opponents to narrow the gap. Zalgiris’ youngster Donatas Tarolis made his LKL debut. The final score – 76-64.

Top scorers:

Zalgiris: J.Dentmon 26+6reb+6ast+3stl, R.Javtokas 15+10reb, P.Jankunas 12+5reb, A.Milaknis 8, M.Kupsas 6, V.Lipkevicius 5+3stl, T.Klimavicius 2+6reb, A.Gudaitis 2, T.Dimsa 0, D.Tarolis 0.

Lietkabelis: D.Leonard 17, G.Vrbanc 15, D.Griskenas 12.