JELGAVA, Latvia — Top Lithuanian teams Žalgiris and Lietuvos Rytas have both opened their 09/10 BBL campaigns in winning fashion.
In the first regular season match-up, pre-season tournament winners Žalgiris traveled to Šiauliai to take on their fellow countrymen. It was hosts Šiauliai however who were setting the early pace and producing the most action racing out to a 16-point lead by the end of the first period (34-16).
Žalgiris began to look much more settled going into the second period as they quickly ate in Šiauliai’s massive advantage, starting the second quarter with a 14-0 scoring streak. They continued to eat away at the lead to be down by just one at the end of the first half (47-46).
The flow of the game well and truly changed in the third quarter as Žalgiris overtook their hosts and began to build a healthy lead that they wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the game. Like he had in the pre-season tournament, American import Travis Jermaine Watson had a strong influence in the game, putting his team in front 69-64 with a quarter left to play.
As hard as they tried, Šiauliai could not pull themselves back into the game. With the lead creeping out to as much as 14, Šiauliai managed to pull a few points back in the dying stages, eventually going down 88-80.
The second game of opening day was another all-Lithuanian clash with Lietuvos Rytas playing away to Nevėžis. After being on the backfoot early, Nevėžis were spurred on by their home crowd to be leading at the end of the first period 13-12.
The telling quarter was the second when Nevėžis managed to just double their score to 26 while Lietuvos Rytas went on a 28 point scoring spree to be leading 40-26 at half-time. The lead remained almost the same in the third quarter as the hosts continued to pay for their lackluster end to the first half. Managing to pull back just one point, they went into the final period down 42-55.
In the final period Lietuvos Rytas showed why they are considered one of the top teams this season, holding their guests at bay to take the win 80-65. It was Artūras Jomantas who produced the goods for the visitors, leading his team in points (15), rebounds (9), steals (5) and assists (4).
Today sees another two games take place with Kalev/Cramo hosting Valmiera and Liepājas Lauvas playing hosts to VEF Riga.
