Gailius saves Neptunas in Utena; Pieno Zvaigzdes stay on the right path

Deividas Gailius saved Neptunas from another defeat in the Betsafe LKL, handing the Klaipeda club an 89-88 victory over Juventus with a game-winning basket with seconds to spare.

Coming off a loss to Pieno Zvaigzdes, the seasiders survived late-game drama in Utena to move to a 17-5 record in the league table, while sending their opponents to 8-14.

Gailius finished the contest with a team-high 21 points, with big men Jerai Grant and Gytis Masiulis chipping in with 16 and 13 points, respectively. Osvaldas Olisevicius and Kyle Weaver had 12 points apiece.

If it wasn't for the clutch basket made by Gailius, Kenny Gaines would have been the hero of the game for Juventus, having made a go-ahead bucket with 10 seconds left and collected a game-high 23 points overall.

Elsewhere, Pieno Zvaigzdes needed to erase a double-digit deficit to keep their hot streak alive, defeating Siauliai 91-76 for their sixth consecutive win and their ninth in the last 10 contests.

Having orchestrated the third-quarter comeback, the Dutch international Yannick Franke netted a game-high 20 points, Vytautas Sulskis scored 16 points, while four other players entered double-digit territory for the visitors.

The win saw Pieno Zvaigzdes improve to a 13-9 record and kept them hot on the heels of Lietkabelis, who pulled to a 13-8 mark with a 92-74 win over Skycop Prienai in Panevezys.

Paulius Valinskas paced the winners with 17 points, the team's newcomer Ike Iroegbu scored 17 points and dished out 6 assists, while Donatas Tarolis and Marko Cakarevic added 11 points apiece.

Zygimantas Janavicius was the top scorer for Skycop with 19 points and 5 assists, as Martynas Gecevicius chipped in with 12 points and 5 assists.