By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Rytas Vilnius is one win away from becoming the champions of Betsafe-LKL and regaining the Lithuanian throne from Zalgiris.
After winning Game 1 on the road in Kaunas, they defeated Zalgiris at home 104-94 after 45 minutes of basketball to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five final series.
With a minute to go in the fourth quarter, the scoreboard read 87-87. Dovydas Giedraitis and Lukas Lekavicius couldn’t give Zalgiris the edge, but Marcus Foster lost the ball on the other side of the court. Edgars Ulanovs could not score with the last shot, so the teams went overtime.
The hosts started the extra time with a 5-0 run. The visitors could not get closer; their deficit was still the same as the last minute ticked by (93-98). Margiris Normantas’ three-pointer finally buried Žalgiris, which did not recover.
Normantas led the winning side with 26 points, while Martynas Echodas followed with 18. R.J. Cole added 16 with seven assists, while Marcus Foster finished the game with 12.
On the other side, Laurynas Birutis had 24 points, Ulanovas added 17, and Lekavicius 17.
Andrea Trinchieri’s side will host Rytas in a do-or-die game for them on June 10th.