Vilnius Rytas survived an incredible rollercoaster and is now preparing championship shirts and celebrations for Thursday evening in the capital.
After squandering a huge lead, Giedrius Žibėnas’ warriors dominated on the opponent’s court, defeating Kaunas Žalgiris 86:80 (21:15, 28:16, 18:33, 19:16) and regained the advantage in the best-of-five final series, leading 2-1.
At the end of the first quarter, the score was still tied at 14:14. However, the visitors from Vilnius began to dominate both ends of the court. By the second quarter, Margiris Normantas’ three-pointer opened a massive 23-point gap between the teams (49:26).
Žalgiris made adjustments during halftime and started clawing back, reducing the deficit to a single point (62:63). Rytas, however, did not break under the intense atmosphere and early in the fourth quarter restored a double-digit lead (75:65).
Everytime Kaunas tried to mount a comeback, Vilnius found the answers, most notably through the long-range strikes of Margiris Normantas and Ignas Sargiūnas. The home team struggled to erase the deficit in time, and the defending champions secured a critical victory.
For the losing side, Edgaras Ulanovas and Sylvainas Francisco stood out. The captain led his team with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 21 efficiency points, while the Frenchman was the top scorer with 19 points.
The fourth and potentially decisive game of the series will be played Thursday in Vilnius and will be broadcast live on BTV and Go3 from 18:30. Historically in the Betsafe-LKL, no team has ever lost the championship after winning the third game when the series was tied 1-1 – all such instances ended with the third-game winners claiming the title.
„Žalgiris“: Sylvainas Francisco 19, Edgaras Ulanovas 16, Alenas Smailagičius ir Deividas Sirvydis po 10, Laurynas Birutis 6.
„Rytas“: Ignas Sargiūnas 17, R.J. Cole’as 16, Ąžuolas Tubelis ir Margiris Normantas po 13, Parkeris Jacksonas-Cartwrightas 9, Gytis Radzevičius 8.