Continuing their preparations for the upcoming season, \u017dalgiris Kaunas defeated the Riga Zelli team coached by Rokas Kondratavi\u010dius in their first preparation game on Saturday evening, winning 97-85.<\/p>\n
This game, as well as the other two friendly matches at \u017dalgiris Arena, is being played behind closed doors, but the game was watched live by several \u017dalgiris Insider subscribers and Kubo members who won tickets through a contest. Become a \u017dalgiris Insider member here.<\/p>\n
Tomas Masiulis played this game without A\u017euolas Tubelis, Marek Bla\u017eevi\u010dius and Maodou Lo, who are representing their national teams. Nigel Williams-Goss and Saben Lee also missed the game due to minor injuries.<\/p>\n
Riga Zelli entered the game without Tomas Talcis, Klavs \u010cavaras, Tomas Skuja and Isaac Johnson.<\/p>\n
The visitors opened the game with the first points, but \u017dalgiris soon put together a 10-0 run, started by a two-pointer from C. Edwards, followed by points from J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas and A. Butkevi\u010dius with a foul, and capped by a layup from J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas.<\/p>\n
Midway through the first quarter, Kaodirichi Akobundu-Ehiogu also managed to shake the rims at \u017dalgiris Arena with his layup (12-4). In the second half of the quarter, the Latvian team\u2019s offense recovered (8-12), but Sterling Brown also put together his own 5-point run, hitting the first three-pointer in Kaunas (17-8). The quarter ended with five made free throws by \u017dalgiris (24-15).<\/p>\n
The second quarter started with a rebound by J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas and easy points from under the basket, followed by three long-range shots from Zelli (28-25). Soon after, K. Akobundu-Ehiogu once again soared over the arc on a fast break (30-27).<\/p>\n
Halfway through the second quarter, Martynas Varnas took the initiative for the visitors (29-30), while another layup by K. Akobundu-Ehiogu (32-29) added to \u017dalgiris\u2019 points tally. For a while, both teams scored points from the free-throw line (36-37), but \u017dalgiris\u2019 scoring drought of almost four minutes was broken by a rebound basket from Marius Grigonis on the final possession of the half (38-37).<\/p>\n
After two quarters, the most productive players for \u017dalgiris were the big men: J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas had 10 points and 6 rebounds, while K. Akobundu-Ehiogu had scored 8 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Tony Perkins had scored 8 points for Zelli.<\/p>\n
The third quarter started at a high pace: J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas scored from under the basket, while C. Edwards added a long-range shot (45-50). Soon after, Dovydas Giedraitis also scored from long range (48-42), and after the made shot he intercepted the ball, allowing \u017dalgiris to take a double-digit lead following two points from J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas and D. Sleva (52-42).<\/p>\n
Although Zelli players scored four points in a row (46-52), \u017dalgiris\u2019 three-pointers continued to find the bottom of the net after halftime, keeping the double-digit lead intact (64-54). At the end of the quarter, the teams traded several made shots, and J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas closed the period with a three-point play (72-61).<\/p>\n
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Edgardas Ulanovas added 4 points and \u017dalgiris continued to maintain their accumulated advantage (79-68). Midway through the quarter, \u017dalgiris went on another run and built a commanding lead after C. Edwards\u2019 three-pointer (86-68). However, late in the game, Zelli\u2019s players slightly reduced the deficit (80-90), but \u017dalgiris maintained a double-digit lead and recorded the victory (97-85).<\/p>\n
\u017dalgiris: J. Valan\u010di\u016bnas 20 (9 rebounds), S. Brown 14 (3 rebounds, 3 assists), K. Akobundu-Ehiogu (4 rebounds), M. Grigonis and C. Edwards 13 each (3 rebounds), E. Ulanovas 9 (5 rebounds), D. Sirvydis and A. Butkevi\u010dius 5 each (6 rebounds), D. Giedraitis 3 (7 rebounds), D. Sleva 2 (7 rebounds).<\/p>\n
Zelli: M. Varnas 17 (3 rebounds), B. Shungu (4 rebounds) and R. \u0160ulcs 13 each, T. Wahl 12 (8 rebounds).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u017dalgiris Kaunas opened their preseason schedule with a victory in their first preparation game ahead of the new season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":512467,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[199,271],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-512465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-euroleague","category-lithuania"],"yoast_head":"\n