Šilalė, who lost their advantage and fell at a crucial moment
"Raseiniai" provided another surprise. In the decisive quarterfinal match, the guests defeated Šilalė "Lūšis" at home 72:68 (11:17, 22:26, 20:8, 19:17) and, having won the series 3:2, returned to the top four after a two-year break.
In the first half of the match, Šilalė looked much more confident – they stopped their opponents in defense and had a double-digit advantage for most of the second half (39:26). However, the scene on the court changed in the third quarter – the Raseiniai team took the initiative and after a period of 13:0 they took the lead (53:47). The decisive quarter became a real war of nerves – with a minute left to play, the hosts took the lead after L. Valentina’s points (68:66), but A. Žilinskas soon responded with a three-pointer (69:68). “Lūšis” did not take the opportunity to attack, and “Raseiniai” added two more points on the other side of the court, which guaranteed the team victory.
Both teams attacked the basket poorly in this match - the combined shooting percentage for both teams was just 37%.
The Raseiniai team was led to victory by a duo of three players – Augustas Žilinskas (6 rebounds), Ernestas Serkevičius (6 assists) and Dominykas Grenda (4/4 free throws, 5 assists), all of whom scored 13 points. G. Jucius added 10 (3/4 doubles, 7 rebounds).
The hosts were led by Nedas Vydmantas with 18 points (4/5 doubles), L. Lekavičius – 12 (6 rebounds, 5 assists), J. Košys – 11 (4 rebounds), M. Čepauskas – 10 (2/10 triples).
"Tauragė" will fight for the title for the second year in a row
This evening, Tauragė surprised everyone by defeating home-court advantage BC Biržai 75:74 (17:18, 21:11, 18:25, 19:20) in the decisive away game of the series. Having won the quarterfinal series 3:2, Tauragė will fight for the title of champions for the second year in a row.
The guests took control of the match in the second half – thanks to their iron defense, they pulled away from their opponents by a double-digit margin (38:27). However, the hosts, who did not intend to let the victory go so easily, outscored the score 14:1 after the break.
in their favor (46:45), although at the end of the third quarter "Tauraga" managed to regain a minimal advantage (56:54). In the fourth quarter, with 2 minutes left in the game, the Taurage team ran 8:0 and laid a solid foundation for victory (75:65). However, "Biržai" created a miracle - after answering with the same score (75:74), they had a chance to snatch the victory after the opponent's mistake with a shot by K. Urbanavičius, but it flew wide, and the guests triumphed.
Tauragė dominated the rebounding battle (42 vs. 32), but Biržai made fewer mistakes (10 errors vs. 17).
Gvidas Galinauskas was unstoppable for Tauragiskis, scoring 20 points (5/9 5D, 16 RBI), R. Jakubauskas – 3 (5/15 6D), M. Šeputis – 6 (4/10 FP, 11 RBI), M. Linkevičius – XNUMX (XNUMX RBI).
For the home team, Kipras Urbanavičius scored 19 points (3/9 three-pointers, 4 assists), D. Rimkus – 17 (9/10 free throws), V. Saulis – 16 (5/7 two-pointers, 6 rebounds).
The first pair of the four semi-finals of the A division final will see Kėdainiai Sports Center and the season's upstarts Vytautas Magnus University meet. In the other pair, Raseiniai will face Taurage for a place in the final.
