The King Mindaugas Cup quarterfinals stage began with an easy victory for Zalgiris Kaunas. Tomas Masiulis’s team defeated Jonava Hipocredit 118-73 (33-21, 25-10, 35-19, 25-23) on the road. The return leg of the quarterfinals will be played on January 17 at the Garliava Sports Center.
At the start of the game, Arnas Butkevicius and Sylvain Francisco made layups, while Azuolas Tubelis scored 5 points from the free throw line, 9-6. Moses Wright scored with a foul, followed by two points from Tubelis and Mantas Rubstavicius, 16-8. Wright tallied another 4 points, Tubelis and Deividas Sirvydis made free throws, and Maodo Lo scored 8 points at the end of the first quarter, 33-21.
Sirvydis and Birutis scored points from under the basket, Rubstavicius hit one three-pointer, Edgaras Ulanovas added two, and the difference exceeded 20 points, 46-25. Ulanovas lobbed the ball for an impressive dunk by Wright, while Butkevicius connected from long range, 51-27. Francisco ended the second quarter with 7 points in a row, 58-31.
Less than a minute into the third quarter, Jonava’s coaches called a timeout after Wright, Rubstavicius, and Butkevicius scored to make it 64-31. Wright had fun scoring another 4 points, Rubstavicius sank a three-pointer, Tubelis added 5 points, and Francisco scored 3 free throws, 79-41. Dustin Sleva and Birutis scored 4 points each, Sleva and Lo each added a three-pointer, 93-50.
Birutis had another 4 points, Ignas Brazdeikis finished the fast break, and Sirvydis scored the team’s 100th point with a three-pointer, 102-62. Kajus Mikalauskas and Wright made layups, Rubstavicius hit a three-pointer, Tubelis added 6 points, and Sleva closed the game with a three-pointer, 118-73.
Tubelis had 20 points in the win, Wright added 17 points, while Rubstavicius collected 14 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.
