The 14th round of the A division was played in Tauragė, where the local teams Tauragė (10/8) and Kazlų Rūdas Ataka – Kauno kolegija (12/6) met. After a changeable fight, the guests celebrated a 76:72 (21:17, 20:13, 16:24, 18:19) victory.
The match started better for Kazlų Rūda, who led in the middle of the first half (15:10). In the second half, the guests pulled even further back (26:17), but the Tauragė team did not give up and, having answered the 6:0 segment, were breathing down the opponents' backs again (26:25). However, Ataka – Kauno kolegija themselves organized a 10:0 segment after a minute's break and went into the long break leading by a double-digit margin – 41:40. For most of the third half, Kazlų Rūda held on to a double-digit advantage (54:43), but at the end of the half, the Tauragė team managed to catch up with their opponents and the intrigue moved to the decisive quarter – 57:54. With two minutes left in the game, the teams were only 1 point apart (70:69), but J.Davniukas nailed an important three-pointer and put the guests ahead (73:69). Tauragė had several chances to force overtime, but Kazlų Rūda, which defended better, celebrated the victory.
Kazlų Rūdas was led by Matas Makauskas with 16 points, A. Krūminis – 15, Ž. Kerza – 10.
Tauragė was led by Gvidas Galinauskas, who scored 21 points, M.Linkevičius and M.Šeputis each scored 10.
Last-minute drama in Kuršėnai
No less intrigue could be seen in Kuršėnai, where Šiauliai district Grafu – Kuršėnai SM (11/7) celebrated a victory over BC Druskininkai (83/81) with a score of 20:19 (29:19, 17:21, 17:22, 1:17).
In the first half, the guests showed better basketball, leading (19:11), but Kuršėnai responded to their opponents with a 9:0 run before the end of the first quarter, overturning the score – 20:19. The second half went better for the hosts, who built a double-digit lead midway through the half (38:28) and maintained it until the long break. The intrigue returned to the match in the fourth quarter, when the guests tied the score with 3 minutes left to play (74:74). The outcome of the match was decided by E. Daunys, who hit a difficult shot through the hands (83:81), and Druskininkai had no time to respond and the hosts celebrated a dramatic victory.
For Kuršėnas, Paulius Tamoliūnas scored 21 points, G.Mockus – 15, E.Daunys and D.Diemontas – 13 each, T.Baracevičius – 12.
Druskininkai's star was Tomas Kuzminskas with 20 points, Š.Štopinis – 19, L.Bankieta – 15, S.Markus – 12.
LSU's first victorythis season
The Lithuanian Sports University (1/13) team, which is going through a difficult season, achieved its first victory of the season at its home stadium, defeating its neighbors in the tournament table, Varėna Academy Glassbee (101/79), with a score of 26:24 (28:18, 25:24, 22:13, 2:12).
The intrigue between the teams was in the first half, after which the hosts had a two-point advantage (26:24). In the middle of the second half, Varėna was still breathing down the opponents' backs (39:35), but Kaunas sprinted 10:2 and built a double-digit advantage - 38:28. At the beginning of the third half, Kaunas inflicted another blow on their opponents (69:47), after which Varėna was unable to recover in the match.
LSU was led by Aironas Butkus with 31 points, D. Saudargas – 18, M. Gasparaitis – 16.
Marijonas Žukauskas, who scored 26 points, A.Brazys – 14, P.Knyza – 13 did not save the Varėna team either.
Other results:
Division A
Birštonas Milasta 85:80 Akmenė Sports Center
KK Kupiskis 90:82 Prienai Tikodenta
Division B
Panevėžys 85:93 Skuodos KKSC – Kuršasta
Palanga Sports Center 46:80 BC Radviliškis
Kaunas district Tornado KM-Tauras 76:63 LKSK-Gijos clinics
VKKM Neptune 93:73 Klaipeda University
Vilnius KM 79:92 Kaisiadorys Savinge
