Exciting championship for all ages

For many Lithuanians May 25 marked the end of the best part of the year. It may seem odd that the beginning of summer would arouse such feelings, until you understand the basketball season has just ended. And a spectacular end it was.

On everybody's lips for weeks was the game between Kaunas' Zalgiris and Vilnius' Lietuvos Rytas. The two clubs fought to be champions of the Lithuanian Basketball League, an honor that requires one team to win a four-out-of-seven-game series.

This traditional Vilnius-versus-Kaunas derby has been more than just a sport for the last three years and is highly charged.

With the series tied 3-3, another 40 minutes of basketball were not enough to determine this year's champions.

The final quarter was a nail-biter, and those of the 3,500 fans at the Vilnius arena who could hardly stand the excitement turned their heads or covered their eyes for fear of the unthinkable: a defeat.

With Vilnius playing near flawless basketball in the first half, the team held a 14-point lead going into half time. But Zalgiris drew close in the third quarter as Vilnius scored only two points.

The two stayed equal for much of the fourth quarter until Zalgiris slipped - only to rally back in the final minute.

Of the 15 points scored in the last minute, none was more important than by Zalgiris' reserve Canadian guard Sherman Hamilton. He made two huge three pointers in the waning seconds of the final period, to even the score at 69-69, sending pulses racing even faster.

With 280 minutes played over seven games, it came down to a five-minute overtime period to determine the immensely important championship.

In the end Lietuvos Rytas won, 87-78.

"You can see such a game only once in 10 years if you're a lucky fan, but it was very difficult for us," commented Jonas Kazlauskas, Lietuvos Rytas' head coach.

After the game, the Vilnius players raised Kazlauskas to the air and the city went into an ecstatic frenzy.

One of Zalgiris' biggest problems was its free-throw shooting, with the entire team shooting 59 percent to Vilnius' 77 percent.

Vilnius' U.S guard Walsh Jordan attributed the team's shooting to its loyal fans. "I think it had a lot to do with our fans. They are incredible. When someone from the other team is shooting a free throw, you can't hear yourself think. I think it helped us a lot."

Another huge blow was the injury to Zalgiris star guard Steven Woodberry, also of the United States, who twisted his ankle late in the third quarter but continued to soldier through to the end of the game.

Without Vilnius' dynamic duo Arvydas Macijauskas and Ramunas Siskauskas, Vilnius' victory would have been unthinkable. The two combined to take 56 points in the final game. They were unstoppable in the first half and were the main contributors to all the team's wins.

The two teams have a long rivalry, with Zalgiris usually coming out the victor and generally considered the pride of Lithuania.