Lekavicius sparks Zalgiris to road win and 3-1 lead in Lithuanian finals 2

Lukas Lekavicius scored half the points in a 16:0 third-quarter run as Zalgiris Kaunas took charge for a 72:59 road win at Lietkabelis Panevezys on Tuesday and a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven Lithuanian League finals. Zalgiris will host Game 5 on Friday with a chance to wrap up the series and its seventh straight Lithuanian crown.

Lekavicius finished with 16 points and 8 assists to pace the winners, while Brock Motum added 16 points and 6 rebounds and Paulius Jankunas scored 10.

For Lietkabelis, Ksistof Lavrinovic led the way with 16 points and Mindaugas Lukauskis scored 14.

Lietkabelis led throughout the first quarter, with the margin touching 6 twice, including after Donatas Tarolis’s basket to end the quarter at 17:23. Tarolis made it an 8-point game to start the second quarter, but Zalgiris rallied back and took its first lead at 35:34 after back-to-back threes by Arturas Milaknis and Lekavicius. Lekavicius added another triple before Ben Madgen split free throws to keep the hosts within 40:37 at the break.

A shot from downtown by Zygimantas Scukas gave Lietkabelis a 40:42 edge early in the third quarter, but soon Lekavicius stepped up again with 8 points as Zalgiris reeled off 16 unanswered points to stamp its control on the game at 58:44. A three by Lukauskis gave some hope at 59:66 with 4:44 to play, but the visitors scored the next 6 points to secure the victory.