Lithuania – NKL Round 2: Nafta-Uni. keeps a leadership position

DziugasSlavinskas There were only 2 rounds played so far and it’s still very beginning of the Regular Season in NKL. There was no lack of excitement in the last round games. The round ended with favorites losing the games and games ending by tiny margin.Nafta-Uni. smashed Mazeikiai in Klaipeda 97-73. The game was mostly controlled by Nafta-Uni.. Mazeikiai managed to win fourth quarter 26-21. But it was not enough to take a lead and get a victory that evening. They outrebounded Mazeikiai 48-28 including a 33-22 advantage in defensive rebounds. Dziugas Slavinskas (203-98) scored 23 points and 9 rebounds to lead the charge for the winners and Aidas Einikis (195-96) chipped in 20 points and 8 rebounds during the contest. Swingman Kostas Jonuska (195-92) responded with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Mazeikiai’s coach Aloyzas Rudys gave up on the game allowing to play ten players seeing no chance for a win. Mazeikiai will play next round against Petrochema trying to get back on the winning streak. Nafta-Uni. will try to continue on its current victory against Zalgiris II in Kaunas. The most crucial game of the last round was a loss of Rasai (1-1) on the court of Silute. Visitors were edged by Silute 80-79. Justas Nausedas (193-92) notched 14 points and 5 assists to lead the effort and Aurelijus Pukelis supported him with 16 points and 5 rebounds (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). Even 23 points by guard Sarunas Vingelis (191-89) did not help to save the game for Rasai. Silute will play against Palanga (#11) at home in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Rasai will play against Vytis (#13) in Sakiai to get more than just one victory in their record. Very important is a home loss of Ezerunas-Karys (1-1) against Suduva-Mantinga (1-1) on Saturday night. Host Ezerunas-Karys was crushed by Suduva-Mantinga in Moletai 95-71. The best player for the winners was Dominykas Domarkas who scored 29 points and 5 rebounds. Raimundas Ambrulaitis produced 16 points and 8 rebounds (on 7-of-9 shooting from the field) for the hosts. Ezerunas-Karys’ coach Paulius Barkus already knew that his team would not have a big chance, so allowed to play ten players seeing no chance for a win. Suduva-Mantinga will meet Delikatesas (#8) in the next round. Ezerunas-Karys will play against KTU (#9) in Kaunas and hope to win that game. The game in Joniskis was also worth to mention about. Perlas-MRU (1-1) played at the court of Delikatesas (1-1). Delikatesas managed to secure a 7-point victory 91-84. Darius Griskenas orchestrated the victory with a double-double by scoring 11 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Perlas-MRU’s coach Arvydas Gronskis rotated eleven players in this game, but that didn’t help. Delikatesas’ next round opponent will be Suduva-Mantinga (#5) in Marijampole. Perlas-MRU will play at home against Telsiai and it may be a tough game between close rivals. Important game to mention about took place in Palanga. Palanga (1-1) saved a 3-point victory at home edging Zalgiris II (0-2) 78-75 on Saturday evening. Jonathan Hudson scored 20 points, 6 assists and 5 steals to lead the charge for the winners. Zalgiris II’s coach Tomas Masiulis tested ten players, but that didn’t help to avoid defeat in this game. Palanga will face Silute on the road in the next round and it may be the game of the week. Zalgiris II will play against Nafta-Uni. (#1) and hope to win that game. In the last two games of round 2 Petrochema lost to KTU on the opponent’s court 62-69. Telsiai managed to outperform Vytis in a home game 66-57. The most impressive stats of the last round was 16 points and 6 rebounds by Gediminas Zalalis of Delikatesas.KTU – Petrochema 69-62KTU used a home court advantage and beat the opponent from Jonava 69-62 on Saturday night. The game without a history. KTU led from the first minutes and controlled entire game increasing their lead in each quarter. They dominated down low during the game scoring 40 of its points in the paint compared to Petrochema’s 20. KTU forced 25 Petrochema turnovers. Strangely Petrochema outrebounded KTU 43-30 including a 31-20 advantage in defensive rebounds. Forward Ignas Labutis (198-94) had a double-double by scoring 18 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks to lead the charge for the winners and Rokas Stankevicius (200-95) chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds during the contest. Point guard Tadas Sebeziovas (185-85) responded with 18 points and 5 rebounds (was perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line) and point guard Lukas Grabauskas (194-95) scored 11 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Both coaches used bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. KTU will face Ezerunas-Karys (#10) in Moletai in the next round where they are favorite. Petrochema will …

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