Baltic League, Regular Season, Games 7-8: November 10-18, 2007
|
It was nothing but an incredible week in the Baltic League, with two-buzzer beaters and another game decided in the final seconds, plus the big Lithuanian showdown between Zalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas. Zalgiris was the biggest winner this weekend, as it registered back-to-back home wins to lead the standings at 7-0. On Saturday, Zalgiris beat L.Rytas 80-72 behind 16 points from Marko Popovic and 12 each from Goran Jurak, Michael Bradley and Dejuan Collins. On Sunday, Zalgiris survived a thriller by edging BC Kalev/Cramo 91-90 on a free throw by Popovic with 2 seconds to go. ASK Riga improved to 6-2 by edging Ventspils 80-81 on an unbelievable game on November 10. Ventspils led 69-58 with 2:18 to go in regulation, but ASK took the game to overtime and won it with a winning layup by Raitis Grafs with 0.4 seconds to go. Speaking on buzzer-beaters, Siauliai also improved to 6-2 by edging Barons/LMT 70-71 on a game-winning triple by Gediminas Maceinas. Ventspils improved to 3-5 by thrashing Neptunas 97-67 on Saturday behind 18 points from Jimmy Baxter.
Zalgiris, just as expected, hard to battle hard to edge L.Rytas 80-72 at home. Popovic led the winners with 16 points, while Jurak, Bradley and Collins each added 12 for Zalgiris. Chuck Eidson led L.Rytas with 17 points on 5-for-5 triples. Mindaugas Lukauskis added 15, Marijonas Petravicius had 14 and Matt Nielsen 12. Three-pointers by Popovic, Jurak, Bradley and Collins broke the game open in the second quarter to give Zalgiris a 38-25 edge. Eidson singlehandedly brought L.Rytas within 75-69 but Marcus Brown and Paulius Jankunas sealed the outcome from the foul line. Zalgiris then edged BC Kalev/Cramo 91-90 on Sunday. Once again Popovic paced the winners with 21 points, Dainius Salenga added 18, Jankunas 13 while Jurak and Bradley each had 11 for Zalgiris, Kristjan Kangur had 25 points for Kalev while Travis Reed added 24. The game saw as many as 12 lead changes in the fourth quarter before a free throw by Marlon Palmer gave Kalev a 88-90 lead. Jurak scored for Zalgiris, Reed missed in the other end while Popovic was fouled with 2 seconds to go and hit his first attempt to win it for the hosts.
ASK survived an incredible game by edging Ventspils 90-91 in overtime on November 10. Grafs not only had the game-winning layup, but also led the winners with 15 points. Sandis Valters added 13 while Dwayne Broyles and Sandis Buskevics each had 12 for ASK. Uvis Helmanis led Ventspils with 21 points, Justin Love added 20 while Akinlolu Akingbala had 11 for the hosts, that led 69-58 with 2:18 to go in regulation and still kept a 72-65 edge with 54 seconds remaining. A three-point play by Buskevics, a basket by Aerick Sanders and a final tip-in by Gatis Jahovics took the game to overtime, 72-72, as nobody could believe it. Once in the extra period, Grafs won it for ASK in the final play. Siauliai also improved to 6-2 by edging Barons/LMT with a game-winning three-pointer by Maceina. Saulius Kuzminskas had 20 points for the winners, Antonio Grant added 16 and Donatas Zavackas 13 but Maceina stole the show in crunch time. Ventspils bounced back from its incredible loss by thrashing Neptunas 97-67 behind 18 points from Baxter. Akingbala added 17, Kaspars Cipruss 14, Pavels Veselovs 12 and Helmanis 10.
LAST GAME GAME 7-8
November 10-17, 2007 | | Day | Match | Result | | Nov. 10 | Rock vs. Barons/LMT | 86-96 | | Nov. 10 | Ventspils vs. ASK Riga | 80-81 | | Nov. 17 | Ventspils vs. Neptunas | 97-67 | | Nov. 17 | Zalgiris vs. Lietuvos Rytas | 80-72 | | Nov. 18 | Zalgiris vs. Kalev/Cramo | 91-90 | | Nov. 18 | Barons/LMT vs. Siauliai | 70-71 | | - | - | - |
| | |
NEXT GAME GAME 9
Nov. 23 - Dec. 1, 2007 | | Day | Match | | Nov. 23 | ASK Riga vs. Siauliai | | Nov. 24 | Barons vs. Kalev/Cramo | | Nov. 27 | Valmiera vs. Neptunas | | Nov. 30 | ASK Riga vs. Valmiera | | Dec. 1 | Rock vs. Lietuvos Rytas | | Dec. 1 | Zalgiris vs. Ventspils | | Dec. 1 | Siauliai vs. Neptunas |
|
| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | | | | | | | | 1 | Lietuvos Rytas | 8 | 7 | 1 | 637 | 556 | | 2 | Zalgiris | 7 | 7 | 0 | 636 | 543 | | 3 | ASK Riga | 8 | 6 | 2 | 660 | 566 | | 4 | Siauliai | 8 | 6 | 2 | 658 | 647 | | 5 | Barons/LMT | 8 | 3 | 5 | 628 | 654 | | 6 | Ventspils | 8 | 3 | 5 | 610 | 561 | | 7 | Rock | 7 | 2 | 5 | 518 | 557 | | 8 | Kalev/Cramo | 7 | 2 | 5 | 544 | 580 | | 9 | Valmiera | 8 | 1 | 7 | 561 | 675 | | 10 | Neptunas | 7 | 1 | 6 | 486 | 599 |
|
|
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Euroleague.net
|