Jankunas triple-double highlights Zalgiris win 0

Paulius Jankunas recorded a triple-double as Zalgiris Kaunas took a 2-1 lead in the Lithuanian League (LKL) finals with a 82-75 victory over Neptunas Klaipeda in Game 3 on Wednesday.

The defending champions used a big first half to set the tone and held on late for the win. Jankunas starred with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, while Justin Dentmon scored 21 to lead Zalgiris.

The team from Kaunas started the game with great sharing of the ball. Their first 10 successful possessions were inspired by assists coming from different players. Dentmon scored 8 in a 12-2 run that bridged the first and second quarters as Zalgiris took control for good. It was 51-33 at halftime, but Marius Runkauskas scored half the points in a 10-0 Neptunas run to make it 58-65 at the end of the third.

However the hosts never got closer than 6 points. Jankunas made long distance shot and the back-to-back Arturas Milaknis threes sealed the win for Zalgiris – 82-75.

The triple-double by Jankunas made the history of LKL finals. It was the first one in 92 games.

Top scorers:

Zalgiris: J.Dentmon 21+4ast, P.Jankunas 15+12reb+10ast, S.Jasikevicius 14+6ast, R.Javtokas 10, A.Milaknis 8+10reb, A.Gudaitis 7, M.Pocius 4, V.Lipkevicius 3, V.Cizauskas 0, T.Klimavicius 0.

Neptunas: M.Mazeika 21, M.Runkauskas 18+5reb, E.Ulanovas 10, S.Galdikas 9+5reb.