Lietuvos Rytas seal the deal; Neptunas and Lietkabelis go up 2-1

Author: LKL.LT

2018-05-19

Lietuvos Rytas became the first team to book a spot in the Betsafe LKL Semi-Finals after finishing a Quarter-Finals sweep of Juventus in impressive fashion on Saturday evening.

The capital club moved the series marker to 3-0 with an emphatic 102-73 victory against the visitors from Utena at the Siemens Arena, with Rokas Giedraitis leading the way with a 20-point effort.

The 25-year-old swingman connected on 6-of-8 three-pointers and also filled the boxscore with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals for an overall efficiency index of 30.

The trio of Martynas Echodas, Ben Maden and Chris Kramer chipped in with 15 points apiece, while Egidijus Mockevicius left the court with 9 points next to his name.

Juventus forward Maksym Korniienko finished his first Betsafe LKL campaign with a 21-point and 10-rebound double-double with 4 assists, while Mindaugas Kupsas added 19 points and 8 boards.

Elsewhere, Neptunas and Lietkabelis celebrated bounce-back victories to reassert their lead against the lower-ranked Pieno Zvaigzdes and Siauliai clubs, with both clubs moving to 2-1 in the Quarter-Finals.

Neptunas ran away to a 92-82 win over Pieno Zvaigzdes after a strong second-half performance, as Vytautas Sulskis registered 21 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals.

Renaldas Seibutis collected 18 points, Edgaras Zelionis went 5-of-5 from the field and 6-of-7 from the stripe for 16 points in the win. Trevon Hughes was the top scorer for Pieno Zvaigzdes with 21 points.

In the last game of the day, Lietkabelis defeated Siauliai 92-68 at the Cido Arena in Panevezys. The home side ran away to a double-digit lead in the first half and never looked back.

Zanis Peiners led the winners with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, Dominik Mavra added 16 points and 4 assists, while Simas Jasaitis and Donatas Tarolis had 12 points apiece.

For Siauliai, Laurynas Birutis had a game-high 24 points and 7 assists, while Donatas Sabeckis was the only other player in double figures with 19 points and 9 assists.