Basketball drama in LKF Cup Final

This weekend Panevezys was the capital of basketball in Lithuania. The LKF Cup Final Four took place there. And the final between Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius and Zalgiris Kaunas was unbelievable. Rytas won against Zalgiris 84:82, thanks to Mindaugas Lukauskis (198-G-79) three pointer in the last seconds.

Zalgiris Kaunas, who played with only 7 players, began the match better and at the half they were ahead 45:38. They kept the pace in the third quater and increased the advantage. Mantas Kalnietis (195-G-86, agency: Interperformances) was on fire that quater. After the third - 68:59 Zalgiris led.

But Rytas recovered in the last quater, led by Donatas Zavackas (203-F-80, college: Pittsburgh) and Steponas Babrauskas (196-G/F-84) three pointers they managed to reduce the deficite to 4 points. But Zalgiris didn't surrender, Jonas Maciulis (198-G/F-85, agency: Interperformances) was unstoppable, he hit couple of shots from downtown and that kept Zalgiris in the game. The result was 81:82, when Rytas began they last attack, Chuck Eidson (201-F-80, agency: Court Side, college: S.Carolina) passed the ball to Mindaugas Lukauskis, which hit that crucial shot from downtown. Final result - 84:82, Rytas won the Lithuanian Basketball Federation Cup. Mindaugas Lukauskis was the MVP.

Zalgiris: Jonas Maciulis 29, Paulius Jankunas (203-F-84, agency: Interperformances) 20, Mantas Kalnietis 15.

Lietuvos Rytas: Donatas Zavackas 22, Marijonas Petravicius (208-F/C-79, college: S.Carolina) 15, Arturas Jomantas (200-G/F-85) 13.



Third place match was also very dramatic. Siauliai overcame Aisciai Kaunas 97:89 after the overtime. Another nice match for huge prospect, Aisciai center Donatas Motiejunas (213-C-90) - 24 points and 6 boards.

Semi-finals were played in friday, but there weren't any intrigue in those matches. Rytas crushed Siauliai 94:66 and Zalgiris hammered Aisciai 95:56 in the Kaunas derby.