Zalgiris Kaunas suffered its first defeat in the Betsafe-LKL Championship. Andrea Trinchieri’s team lost to Rytas Vilnius 88-91 (18-22, 17-28, 25-23, 28-18) on the road.
The game opened with points from Deividas Sirvydis and Matt Mitchell (4-0), followed by a floater from Laurynas Birutis and a three-pointer of Edgaras Ulanovas to make it 9-9. Mitchell scored again from mid-range, and Sylvain Francisco converted three free throws after cutting to the basket on the next possession, 16-18. Arnas Butkevicius made a putback, but Zalgiris trailed 18-22 after the first period.
Sirvydis made a long-range shot, Giedraitis broke through under the basket (23-24), but the opponents answered by scoring 10 points in a row, 23-34. Sirvydis scored 2 free throws, Ulanovas added a 2+1, 29-34. Lukas Lekavicius hit his trademark floater (31-37), but Rytas pulled away again, 31-45. Tyrone Wallace made 2 free throws out of 4, and Mitchell scored on a fast-break to close the second quarter, 35-50.
Francisco broke under the basket early in the third and then Bryant Dunston flexed his muscles by scoring 7 points in a row, 44-59. Sirvydis made a three-pointer from the corner, Dunston scored again with a foul, Sirvydis added free throws, 52-64. Alen Smailagic scored 5 points in a row, Wallace finished the attack with and-one, 60-73.
Dunston scored 4 more points and Francisco had a steal to cut the deficit to 8 points (66-74). Ulanovas scored 5 points in a row and assisted Dunston’s dunk to make it 73-78. After the opponents regained a double-digit lead, Ulanovas scored 2 more points, Giedraitis made free throws, Francisco made a long-range jump shot and added a steal with a foul, and Zalgiris closed the gap to 86-88 on a three-pointer by Ulanovas. The home team scored, but Sirvydis drew a foul on a long-range shot and sank 2 free throws (88-90). Francisco had a chance to force overtime in the last possession, but his long-range shot missed the target, 88-91.
Dunston and Ulanovas were the leading scorers for Zalgiris with 16 points. Francisco added 15 points, 8 assists and 4 steals.
