Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius successfully defended the Lithuanian League championship on Monday after holding off archrival Zalgiris 80-71 in a do-or-die Game 7 of the finals. Milko Bjelica scored 24 points to lead the winners, as the club claimed its fifth Lithuanian League crown and won in back-to-back seasons for the first time. The victory also guaranteed head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis's team a spot in the Euroleague next season. Kenan Bajramovic and Martynas Gecevicius added 15 points apiece and Igor Milosevic had 10 for the champs. Aleksandar Capin led Zalgiris with 15 points and Mantas Kalnietis scored 13. Zalgiris started well and led 6-14 late in the first quarter before Bajramovic got hot and pushed the score to 15-16 after 10 minutes. Zalgiris again ran out to a promising lead, 17-25, however L. Rytas scored the next 9 points and the home side took a 35-34 lead into halftime. A Dainius Salenga layup midway through the third quarter gave Zalgiris its final lead, 39-40. Steponas Babrauskas followed with a jumper and Vidas Ginevicius added a triple in a 10-0 charge that gave L. Rytas the lead for good. The scoreboard showed 54-43 at the end of the third quarter and despite Zalgiris's best efforts, it could do no more than trade baskets in the fourth quarter. L. Rytas upped its lead to 15 with six minutes to go as it began counting down the minutes to the title. MORE