May 26, 2012
Baltic League Final Four: April 20-21, 2007
Lietuvos Rytas BBL champion 2006-07, Photo: bc.lrytas.lt Lietuvos Rytas successfully defended its Baltic League title with a 77-81 win over rival Zalgiris Kaunas in the championship game on Saturday at the Baltic League Final Four in Riga, Latvia. Kareem Rush scored 22 points as his teamed pulled away early and coasted until the final minutes. Zalgiris stormed back to make a game out of it in the fourth quarter, but L. Rytas held steady and made the crucial free throws down the stretch to ice the win and title. Just weeks after losing to Real Madrid in the ULEB Cup Final in Charleroi, the title gave L. Rytas something to celebrate. Zalgiris and L. Rytas have both qualified already for the Lithuanian League semifinals and could meet again there in what would surely be a hotly contested series. Uvis Helmanis scored 19 to lead Ventspils over Siauliai 94-88 in the third-place game.

Zalgiris actually scored the game's first 5 points, but it was L. Rytas that surged ahead as Roberts Stelmahers and Marijonas Petravicius scored 5 each during a 2-16 blitz that put the team ahead for good. The ULEB Cup finalists increased the advantage to 24-41 at halftime. A pair of Rush jumpers made it 37-59 late in the third quarter before Marko Popovic narrowed the gap to 40-54 after 30 minutes. Zalgiris fought hard in the last quarter and DeJuan Collins made it a 10-point game with 5 minutes to go. Loren Woods and Popovic continued the Zalgiris pressure, but Stelmahers and Tomas Delininkaitis made crucial free throws in the final minute to help seal the win. Rush led the way with 22 points, Delininkaitis added 11, Stelmahers 10 and Petravicius finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds. Popovic led Zalgiris with 19, Paulius Jankunas had 15 and Woods shined with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

On Friday, Zalgiris and L. Rytas coasted to easy wins in the semifinals. Zalgiris thrashed Siauliai 105-72 by starting the game with a 17-2 run. Tanoka Beard led the way by scoring 20 points, Woods had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Marko Popovic added 13 and Paulius Jankunas 11. L. Rytas downed Ventspils 99-75 after leading 49-38 at halftime and increasing the cushion in the last quarter. Joao Paulo Batista and Delininkaitis tallied 18 points apiece, Rush had 16 and Petravicius 14. Raimonds Gabrans was the top scorer for Ventspils posting 15 points, while Eddie Shannon added 11 points and 7 assists.


BALTIC LEAGUE: Final Four in Riga, Latvia - Final
RecordTeamGame 1
0Zalgiris Kaunas (1, division I) - Final77
1Lietuvos Rytas (2, division I) - Final 81
1Ventspils (3, division I) - 3rd place94
0Siauliai (4, division I) - 3rd place88
Baltic League Champion 2006-07: Lietuvos Rytas
Final Four in Riga, Latvia - semifinals
RecordTeamGame 1
1Zalgiris Kaunas (1, division I)105
0Siauliai (4, division I)72
1Lietuvos Rytas (2, division I)99
0Ventspils (3, division I)75

Final Four games
Game 1Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Siauliai - semifinal105-72April 20
Game 1Lietuvos Rytas vs. Ventspils - semifinal99-75April 20
Game 2Ventspils vs. Siauliai - 3rd place94-88April 21
Game 2Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Lietuvos Rytas - Final77-81April 21
Saturday, April 21, 2007
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