Zalgiris takes down Nevezis in Cup semifinal 4

The favored teams all won in the Lithuanian Cup quarterfinals on Friday in Vilnius. Zalgiris Kaunas will face Vytautas in the first semifinal on Saturday and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius takes on Neptunas Klaipeda in the second semifinal.

Zalgiris waited till the second half to put away Nevezis and advance. After leading 33-29 at halftime, Zalgiris scored 27 in the third quarter in taking a lead in the 20s and cruising to victory.

Martynas Pocius led the way with 14 points and Paulius Jankunas added 10 points for the winners, who are looking to defend the title they won last season.

Neptunas routed Siauliai 96-58 in a one-sided affair. Trent Plaisted scored 14 points and Martynas Mazeika added 12 points and 8 assists for Neptunas.

Rytas worked hard to hold off Lietkabelis 88-82. Lietkabelis rallied late to close a 12-point deficit to 4 in the final minute, but Zygimantas Janavicius knocked down a pair of free throws with 9 seconds left to secure the win. Janavicius and Deividas Gailius scored 14 points apiece to lead six Rytas scorers in double figures.

And Vytautas edged Juventus 88-86 after taking a 70-53 lead into the fourth quarter. Juventus rallied to take an 80-81 lead on a Martynas Linkevicius basket in the final minutes, but Sarunas Vasiliauskas answered on the next play and later added a pair of free throws as Vytautas escaped with the win. Vasiliauskas finished with 21 points and Vytautas Sulskis posted 16 points and 10 boards for the winners. Spencer Butterfield led Juventus with 21 points.