RIGA - The second round of Baltic Basketball League games took place on Jan. 15, and once again it was the Lithuanians who impressed the most. Although it's still early days yet, it's already starting to seem likely that the final could be an all-Lithuanian affair.
Ehitustooriist (Estonia) hosted Sakalai (Lithuania), but the visitors were far from being polite guests, soundly beating the Estonians 80-61.
Ehitustooriist started the game sprightly enough and was soon leading the game 11-4.
But Sakalai edged into the lead as the second quarter began. Renaldas Seibutis scored five points in quick succession to put the score at 33-27.
The home team fought back in the third quarter to level the score at 44's 44, and the game closely vacillated throughout the rest of the quarter. However, Sakalai's superiority eventually won through. The visitors scored 10 points in three minutes to raise the score to 64-53. Ehitustooriist couldn't recover and scored only eight points in the last 10 minutes, while Sakalai netted another 16 points to win the game 80-61.
A thrilling local match between Zalgiris (Lithuania) and Neptunas (Lithuania) was held in Kaunas the same day. Tanoka Beard scored 22 points from field goals and 15 rebounds to help lift Zalgiris to its second consecutive BBL victory. Zalgiris performed well offensively, finishing the first period 31-18 to the good.
Zalgiris' deadly accurate shooting was the main difference between the two sides. It held the lead throughout the game, with the exception of a brief fightback in the last quarter by Neptunas, but the second placed team in the Lithuanian Basketball League went onto win by a convincing margin of 112-90.
Valmieras Piens (Latvia) hosted Barons/LU (Latvia) and narrowly won 79-76, largely thanks to Ilmars Bergmanis' magnificent efforts. It was the first BBL victory for Valmiera, who lost its previous game to Sakalai, while Barons/LU is now bottom of the table.
The game was tight throughout, with Valmiera finishing the first quarter 26-18. Barons/LU recovered in the second to make it 41-37 at the halftime buzzer. Barons stayed on a roll, and Valmiera was trailing by three points going into the last 10 minutes. But the comeback inspired by Bergmanis, who made three beautiful game-winning free throws, saw Valmiera regain the lead and secure its first victory.
In the final BBL game between Lietuvos Rytas (Lithuania) and TU/Rock (Estonia), Andrius Slezas scored 26 and Tyrone Nesby added another 17 for the Lithuanians in a convincing 106-80 away victory. Lietuvos Rytas now has a 2-1 record and the number one spot in the overall standings.
The first quarter of the game ended with Lietuvos Rytas leading 27-22. The second period was dominated by Lietuvos Rytas, which managed to increase its lead and finish the first half 54-38.
Andrius Slezas was the main difference for the Lithuanians. He only came on at the beginning of the second quarter and notched up 10 points in just 10 minutes of play.
The final quarter was thrillingly open, with both teams thinking more about attacking than defense. But this totally suited Lietuvos Rytas, and it quickly bagged the points and the game.
The Lithuanians played without two of their best players, Frederick House and Robertas Javtokas, and finished the game with a remarkable scoring percentage 's 100 percent from the free-throw line, 67.6 percent from the two-point range and 53.1 percent from the three-point stance.
