Lithuanian League: Zalgiris stays atop with a road win 0

In a battle of the top two teams in the Lithuanian League standings, Zalgiris Kaunas rallied on the road to edge Neptunas Klaipeda 80-76 on Sunday. Zalgiris improved to 20-1 on the season, extending its winning streak to 19 games, while Neptunas remains in the second place with 18-3 record.

James Anderson made a key basket to keep Zalgiris in front 74-77 with 24 seconds left, then sealed the deal making a pair of free throws with 14.8 seconds to go. Anderson scored 12 of his 16 points in the last 6 minutes of the contest, leading Zalgiris to victory. He was selected the weekly MVP of Lithuanian League the following day.

The hosts were the ones with a strong start in the game, opening it with 19-6 lead after only 5 minutes with the entire starting five – Martynas Mazeika, Deividas Gailius, Simas Galdikas, Mustafa Shakur and Donatas Zavackas – equally contributing.

But Arturas Milaknis hit a pair of threes in a 15-2 run that gave Zalgiris 29-28 advantage in the second quarter, and teams exchanged leads few more times before Zalgiris took 41-40 margin into halftime.

Immediately after the break, Gailius and Mazeika put together a 9-0 run for Neptunas to regain the lead, and the hosts kept it until Anderson hit a triple for 66-64 with 6 minutes to go. Couple more buckets from Anderson, and a basket from Arturas Gudaitis got Zalgiris to 74-69. Neptunas cut it to 74-75 through Valdas Vasylius and Mindaugas Girdziunas before Anderson sealed it for Zalgiris.

Milaknis and Gudaitis each scored 14 in victory, while Robertas Javtokas battled for 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Mazeika scored 16 for Neptunas, while Mindaugas Gridziunas and Gailius added 14 apiece.