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SEB BALTIC LEAGUE
Baltic League, Regular Season, Game 12: January 3-4, 2009
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 Lietuvos Rytas stays as the Baltic League leader in early 2009 with an 11-2 record. Kalev/Cramo is second at 8-4 while Zalgiris and ASK Riga tie for third place at 7-4. L. Rytas took the big showdown this week by thrashing ASK 87-108 in Riga on Saturday. Arturas Jomantas paced the winners with 18 points. Marijonas Petravicius added 13, Donatas Zavackas, Michailas Anisimovas and Mindaugas Lukauskis each had 12 while Milko Bjelica got 11 for L. Rytas. Bruno Sundov led ASK with 24 points on 4-for-4 triples. Dairis Bertans added 16, Ernests Kalve had 14 while Andrius Mazutis got 10 for the hosts, that led 35-29 after 10 minutes. L. Rytas only allowed 6 points in the second quarter, while Jomantas and Petravicius boosted the guests' lead to 41-58 at halftime. Nothing changed in the second half, as L. Rytas kept a safe lead until the final buzzer. Zalgiris overwhelmed Ventspils 117-66 in Kaunas behind 26 points each from Tadas Klimavicius and Paulius Jankunas. Klimavicius added 13 points while Jankunas pulled down 12 for respective double-doubles. Eurelijus Zukauskas added 16 points, Dainius Salenga had 14 while Jonas Maciulis and Arturas Milaknis each got 13 in an easy home win for Zalgiris, that gave Ventspils no choice. Barons/LMT improved to 5-7 by edging Nevezis 69-65 at home on Sunday behind 19 points and 11 rebounds from Demetrius Alexander. Kaspars Berzins added 14 points while Armands Skele and Charles Rhodes each had 10 for Barons, that trailed 54-55 with 7 minutes remaining. Berzins, Skele and Alexander fueled a 13-2 run that sealed the outcome. In other games, Siauliai downed Valmiera 75-87 while Kalev topped Tartu Rock 73-63 behind 21 points from Nate Fox. MORE |
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LAST GAME GAME 12
January 3-4, 2009 |
| Day |
Match |
Result |
| Jan. 3 |
Zalgiris vs. Ventspils |
117-66 |
| Jan. 3 |
ASK Riga vs. Lietuvos Rytas |
87-108 |
| Jan. 3 |
Kalev/Cramo vs. Rock |
73-63 |
| Jan. 3 |
Valmiera vs. Siauliai |
75-87 |
| Jan. 4 |
Barons/LMT vs. Nevezis |
69-65 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 13
January 17-24, 2009 |
| Day |
Match |
| Jan. 17 |
Valmiera vs. ASK Riga |
| Jan. 17 |
Lietuvos Rytas vs. Nevezis |
| Jan. 23 |
ASK Riga vs. Kalev/Cramo |
| Jan. 24 |
Barons/LMT vs. Rock |
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STANDINGS |
TG |
W |
L |
P+ |
P- |
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| 1 |
Lietuvos Rytas |
13 |
11 |
2 |
1164 |
1019 |
| 2 |
Kalev/Cramo |
12 |
8 |
4 |
904 |
865 |
| 3 |
Zalgiris |
11 |
7 |
4 |
915 |
823 |
| 4 |
ASK Riga |
11 |
7 |
4 |
858 |
839 |
| 5 |
Rock |
13 |
5 |
8 |
991 |
1019 |
| 6 |
Ventspils |
13 |
5 |
8 |
952 |
1055 |
| 7 |
Barons/LMT Riga |
12 |
5 |
7 |
918 |
902 |
| 8 |
Valmiera |
11 |
5 |
6 |
893 |
934 |
| 9 |
Siauliai |
11 |
5 |
6 |
856 |
898 |
| 10 |
Nevezis |
13 |
2 |
11 |
912 |
1009 |
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| The Baltic League starts more competitive than ever, as even when Zalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas are the top candidates to reach the final, teams like ASK Riga, Ventspils, Tartu Rock, Barons/LMT or Siauliai will be ready to provide the upset. Zalgiris will try to defend its title with most of its core players - Marcus Brown, Jonas Maciulis, Paulius Jankunas or Dainius Salenga back for another season. Loren Woods, Ratko Varda and Willie Deane add depth to a strong roster. L. Rytas kept Chuck Eidson, Matt Nielsen, Mindaugas Lukauskis or Marijonas Petravicius, as well as bringing in Milko Bjelica, Donatas Zavackas or Branko Milisavljevic. ASK, that was third last season, signed Corey Brewer to join an interesting backcourt that also features Gatis Jahovics and Sandis Valters. Ventspils has as many as eight newcomers, including playmaker Tyrone Blazerton, while Latvian League champion Barons/LMT kept the players that led the team to its biggest success, including Demetrius Alexander, Armands Skele, Giedrius Gustas or Kaspars Berzins. Tartu Rock landed legendary center Tanoka Beard while Siauliai stays loyal to its philosophy with a core of Lithuanian players like Andrius Slezas, Saulius Kuzminskas or Virgilijus Praskevicius. The Elite Division features 10 teams that will compete in a round-robin regular season. The top 2 teams will reach the Final Four while those teams finishing third to sixth will battle for the remaining spots. |
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| Euroleague / EuroCup teams |
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