Rytas avoid disaster against Juventus; Zalgiris top Siauliai for a Final Four spot

Lietuvos Rytas just barely avoided a home disaster in the Quarter-Finals of the SIL-King Mindaugas Cup, squeaking past Juventus in overtime on Wednesday evening in Vilnius.

The hosts were on the edge of an abyss both at the end of regular time and at the end of the extra period, but the Chris Kramer-led Lietuvos Rytas escaped with a 91-88 victory.

The guard made the game-equalizing basket with 8.8 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and then came up with a crucial steal down the stretch in overtime.

Kramer finished the game with 15 points and 7 assists, while Ben Madgen chipped got hot and posted a team-high 18 points. Loukas Mavrokefalidis and Rokas Giedraitis scored 13 points apiece.

For Juventus, Mindaugas Kupsas had 22 points, Kenny Gaines scored 21 and Dovis Bickauskis filled the boxscore with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Earlier in the day, Zalgiris also had to work for their place in the Final Four, inscribing an 85-78 win in the Quarter-Final against Siauliai, who gave their powerhouse opponents a real challenge.

Vasilije Micic scored a team-high 14 points, Arturas Milaknis had 13, while Aaron White was the only other player in double figures for coach Sarunas Jasikevicius with 10 points.

Meanwhile, Siauliai big man had a career night with 35 points and 11 rebounds for the underdog visitors from up north, as Nick Zeisloft and Vytautas Sarakauskas added 17 and 12 points respectively.

Zalgiris will take on Lietkabelis in the Semi-Final of the King Mindaugas Cup, with Lietuvos Rytas facing Dzukija, who eliminated the Final Four hosts Neptunas in sensational fashion on Tuesday.