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The third team in the four finalists of the Citadele King Mindaugas Cup (Citadele KMT) is already clear. Among the four strongest teams in the tournament, Klaipėda basketball players “Neptūnas” broke out and experienced real drama.
“Neptūnas” in the second leg quarter-final match 77:88 (17:21, 28:22, 14:21, 18:24) lost to Šiauliai, but the pass to the four finalists was guaranteed by the advantage of 15 points accumulated in the first duel (91:76).
Klaipėda residents advanced to the next stage with a total advantage of 4 points and a score of 168: 164.
In the second match in Klaipeda, two halves were point by point, during the long break the teams were separated by two points (45:43). Such a scenario suited the “Neptune” led by Tomas Gaidamavičius, but in the second half the game turned upside down.
Team Šiauliai, which started the impressive third quarter, had a 7-point lead in a few minutes (45:52). The Klaipėda team’s attack stalled, the substitutes’ bench received two technical fouls and Šiauliai ran to victory.
In the last quarter, Šiauliai achieved the necessary advantage of 15 points (61:76). Klaipėda residents began to defend themselves more intensely and soon reduced their backlog to ten (71:81). It is true that this was far from guaranteeing a peaceful end to the match. Elvaras Fridriksson scored a three-point foul and returned the 14-point lead to Šiauliai a minute and a half later (71:85). On the other side of the field, Martynas Mažeika caused a foul, taking both free throws (75:85).
Once it looked like the hosts had a ticket to the final four on their hands, Martynas Varnas stabbed another three points (75:88) less than a minute ago and returned intrigue to the series once again. In decisive moments, Klaipėda’s team was saved by captain M.Mažeika, who broke under the basket and scored his team’s last two points. M.Mažeika left 12 seconds for the Šiauliai residents, but a difficult 3-pointer flew by.
“Neptūnas” won the fight for bounced balls (42 and 28) and threw colonies with greater precision (50% against 45%), but the Šiauliai team took more balls (6 and 12) and attacked with greater precision from long distance ( 28% versus 48%). percent).
If successful, Šiauliai would have created the second miracle in the Citadele KMT tournament. In the final eighth stage, A.Seika’s students eliminated the 25-point deficit in the second leg against Alytus “Sintek-Dzūkija”.
The teams of Utena “Juventus” and Panevėžys “Lietkabelis” have already reached the four finalists. The fourth contestant will be announced on Monday, when reigning champion Kaunas “Žalgiris” and Pasvalys “Pieno Žvaigždės” meet for the second time.
Neptune: Žygimantas Janavičius 15, Matas Jogėla 14, Norbertas Giga (seventh room) and Martynas Mažeika – 12 each, Giedrius Stankevičius and Benas Griciūnas (seventh room) – 8 each.
Šiauliai: Kasparas Berzinis 16, Arminas Urbutis 14, Martynas Varnas 12 (3/4 trit., 6 res.), Andy Van Vlietas (eighth room) and Mindaugas Lukauskis – 11 each.
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