Zalgiris handles Techasas easily 0
Zalgiris walked all over Techasas in a Lithuanian League (LKL) game on home court in Kaunas. The Lithuanian powerhouse thrashed the visitors from Panevezys 98:56 (22:12, 25:14, 29:14, 20:16) to catch the main rivals Lietuvos Rytas in the standings.
The two strongest Lithuanian clubs share the place with an identical 20-1 record while Techasas has guaranteed playoff birth and are in seventh spot with an 11-12 mark.
“Maybe their goals are smaller than ours, but we respect all of the teams and have to prove that we are Zalgiris as well as preparing for the next game against Lietuvos Rytas step by step,” Zalgiris coach Darius Maskoliunas said.
Mantas Kalnietis led Zalgiris with 18 points as another guard, Aleksandar Capin, scored 16. Mario Delas added 12 points, Martynas Pocius had 10 and Adas Juskevicius collected 9 for the home team.
“I told the players that this was a great opportunity to try out some new things. And even if it didn’t all go according to plan, it was important to keep the spirits high and have fun,” Maskoliunas commented.
Techasas’ bigman Karolis Petrukonis and Laimonas Lukosevicius shared a team-high 14 points each, Vaidotas Volkus was just shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Zalgiris solved their business already in the first quarter despite still trailing midway through the period. The hosts used a 20:1 run to turn a 8:11 deficit into a 16-point lead after two back to back threes from Arturas Milaknis.
Techasas didn’t look to bounce back after suffering a crushing end to the opening quarter. Mantas Kalnietis was able to play for the spectators and hammer in some powerful dunks to bring Zalgiris back to the top of the league standings.
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