 Lietuvos Rytas of Lithuania has won a spot in the Nike International Junior Tournament at the 2009 Final Four in Berlin and will face off against Unicaja of Spain for the Torneig Junior Ciutat de L'Hospitalet title and after cruising past DKV Joventut of Spain 95-80 in Tuesday's semifinal. L. Rytas fell behind early but used a 12-2 first-quarter run to grab the lead. L. Rytas pushed further ahead with a 14-2 run in the second quarter. Joventut mounted a comeback with a 3-13 run to get within 36-35. But L. Rytas scored 11 straight points to re-establish a double-digit lead. And L. Rytas finished off the game with an 11-0 fourth quarter surge. Osvaldas Matulionis had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the winners while Jonas Valanciunas collected 19 points, 16 rebounds and 2 blocks and Dovydas Rediktas poured in 20 points. Augustas Peciukevicius also chipped in 16 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals and Mantas Kadzevicius added 10 points for L. Rytas , which out-rebounded Joventut 48-23. Joventut was led by Joan Tomas's 20 points while Josep Franch had 16 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals. And Albert Ventura chipped in 14 points in a losing effort for Joventut. Tomas scored Joventut's first 11 points and gave the Spanish team a 4-11 lead. Marco Todorovic's basket made it 9-17 before L. Rytas found its rhythm. Redikas knocked down a three-ball and scored 7 points in a 12-2 run as L. Rytas grabbed the lead 21-19. Ferran Bassas however hit a three-pointer to give Joventut a 21-22 advantage after one period. Ventura made it 21-24 before Matulionis hit for 6 points and Kadzevicius knocked down a three-ball to complete a 14-2 surge for a 35-26 cushion. Joventut answered back with a 3-13 run sparked by Franch's three-point play. But Redikas converted back-to-back baskets in an 11-0 counter to re-establish a 10-point lead for Lietuvos, which led 53-43 at the break. Matulionis helped hold Joventut at bay with five baskets in the third period, including one which gave L. Rytas a 69-58 lead. Alejandro Barrera and Bassas hit back-to-back scores to cut the deficit to 69-62. But Kadzevicius pushed the margin to 74-64 after three quarters. The lead was still 10 when L. Rytas put all doubts to bed with an 11-0 surge - powered by two baskets from Redikas - for an 88-67 lead with 4 minutes left. Franch scored 9 points in a 4-11 answer for Joventut. But the lead was still 12 points with less than 2 minutes to play and L. Rytas could then book its ticket to Berlin!
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
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