Ulanovas pushes Zalgiris past Rytas in Lithuanian derby / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: LKL Credit LKL

Zalgiris Kaunas (17-1) defeated Rytas Vilnius (15-2) 72-67 (17-18, 21-15, 17-17, 17-17) in the Lithuanian Basketball League derby and got a significant advantage for first place in the regular-season standings.

Zalgiris Kaunas / Schedule

Fenerbahce Istanbul Zalgiris Kaunas73-67 Panathinaikos Athens Zalgiris KaunasWed19:00 AX Armani Exchange Milan Zalgiris KaunasFri19:30

In the first round, the Green and Whites suffered their first blow in the local competition, but this time Zalgiris were determined to not let their rivals get the best of them.

Edgaras Ulanovas excelled with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Lukas Lekavicius added 16 and Tyler Kavanaugh 15 points for the winners.Ivan Buva had 20 points, while another 13 along with 7 rebounds were added by Arnas Butkevicius for the hosts.

Yuri Zdovc's team lined up with a lot of significant absences. In addition to Janis Strelnieks, who is suffering from injury, the Lithuanian champs were also without Arturas Milaknis, Paulius Jankunas and Tai Webster, who are in quarantine with COVID.

The guests were ahead in the scoring for the most part of the match, with the margin reaching up to 12 points (33-45) midway through the third quarter. Rytas cut down the deficit to two (67-69), but Ulanovas made sure that the win wouldn't change hands.

Rytas Vilnius: Ivan Buva 20 (7/12 FG, 6/7 FT), Arnas Butkevicius 13 (5/7 FG, 1/2 FT, 7 REB), Lukas Uleckas 10 (4/5 FG).

Zalgiris Kaunas: Edgaras Ulanovas 19 (7/9 FG, 3/4 FT, 8 REB, 3 TO), Lukas Lekavicius 16 (7/13 FG, 3 TO), Tyler Cavanaugh 15 (5/12 FG, 4/4 FT).

Full game highlights:

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