By Stefan Djordjevic/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas kicked off the Lithuanian League Finals against Lietuvos Rytas with a 79-64 home win to take the 1-0 lead.
Marius Grigonis scored 13 points for Zalgiris followed by Nate Wolters’ 12 and Brandon Davies’ 11 points. Edgaras Ulanovas flirted with a double-double banking ten points and nine boards.
For Rytas, Artsiom Parkhouski logged 14 points and eight boards in addition to Arnas Butkevicius’ 13 and Martynas Echodas’ ten points. The latter also grabbed nine rebounds.
Zalgiris had the lead throughout all forty minutes. They went ahead in double-digit after ten minutes (27-16) and held off Rytas’ multiple comeback efforts (36-31; 51-47) for the eventually convincing win.
The Finals are played in a best-of-five format and Game 2 is scheduled for May 30 in front of Rytas’ home crowd.