The final of the “7bet-NKL” championship was like a real gladiator fight. Both teams fought until the last seconds, and “Gargždai” won a dramatic victory, the championship title and a ticket to the LKL.
Paulius Juodis’ students in the final in Palanga 77:73 (15:17, 25:19, 18:18, 19:19) defeated the basketball players of “Sūduvos-Mantinga” from Marijampole and won the NKL championship for the first time in the club’s history.
The entire fourth quarter resembled a real gladiator fight: the teams exchanged accurate shots, and with 2 minutes remaining, after Sims Galdik’s two-pointer, “Gargždai” took the lead (72:71). In the next attack, Šarūnas Beniūšis committed an offensive foul, and with a minute left, Mindaugas Stašys increased the lead to 3 points (74:71).
Soon, the Marijampolians lost, and M. Stasi’s throw with 25 seconds left put the Gargždiski team within 5 points (76:71).
In the next attack, “Sūduva-Mantinga” failed to score, but Galdikas missed the penalties, and with 12 seconds left, Žygymantas Šimonis reduced the difference to 3 points (73:76) with two free throws.
However, that was all: M. Stašys scored a penalty (77:73), on the other side of the field Aurimas Urbonas missed both and Gargždiška triumphed.
MVP of the final four became the hero of the final, M. Stašys, who in the decisive match scored 13 points (5/10 doubles, 0/3 triples, 3/4 penalties), 2 rebounds and 1 lost ball, 6 assists, 5 personal and 4 provoked foul and 10 utility points.
“I was silent for three quarters, in the fourth quarter someone had to take the initiative, I took it upon myself,” M. Stašys said after the victory. – Thank God that everything fell into place and we are champions today. Fantastic. Someone had to take the initiative: either Marius, or Ruikis, or Galdikas, or me. They used such a defense, the shots fell. A fantastic finale. Goes to himself… Super!”
In the semi-final against “Telšius”, M. Stašys scored 16 points (3/9 doubles, 1/1 triples, 7/8 penalties) in 30 minutes, rebounded 2 balls, made 4 assists, provoked 7 fouls and collected 20 assists. scores.
In total, the 36-year-old defenseman recorded 14.5 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 15 utility points in the Final Four.
It was the second Final Four MVP award and championship title for M. Stašius. The last time the defender won it was in 2015, when he represented Klaipėda “Neptūnui-Akvaservis”.
D. Romanchenko also stood out in the ranks of the Gargžda team, who had 17 points (3/7 doubles, 3/6 triples, 2/2 penalties), 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 22 utility points in 32 minutes.
For the Marijampole team, Žygymantas Šimonis scored 16 points (3/4 doubles, 2/6 triples, 4/6 penalties), rebounded 5 balls, made 2 assists and collected 18 utility points in 30 minutes.
The Marijampolians had a better start to the game, running 12-2 and gaining a double-digit lead in the middle of the first quarter. However, “Gargžda” responded soon after, which impressively ran 38:20 and after a long shot by Mantas Ruikis, they were within 8 points (40:32).
During the period, D. Romanchenko shone the brightest, scoring 10 points in the second period alone.
However, before the break, the Marijampolė team managed to reduce the deficit and after Ž. Šimoni’s free throw reduced it to 4 points (36:40).
2.5 minutes before the end of the third quarter, the score was equal – 50:50, but then “Gargždai” organized an 8:3 period and gained a 5-point advantage (58:53) after S. Galdik’s free throws at the end of the quarter.
“Sūduva-Mantinga”: Aurimas Urbonas 18 (4/9 doubles, 2/7 triples, 4/8 penalties, 7 rebounds, 4 assists), Žygymantas Šimonis 16 (2/6 triples, 5 rebounds) , Šarūnas Beniušis 12 (6/9 doubles), Ignas Labutis 11 (4/6 doubles, 6 rebounds, 3 overs), Lukas Aukštikalnis 7 (1/7 triples, 2 blocks).
“Gargždai”: Dovydas Romanchenko 17 (3/7 doubles, 3/6 triples, 5 rebounds, 3 overs), Marius Runkauskas 16 (4/8 triples), Mindaugas Stašys 13 (5/ 10 doubles, 6 rebounds), Mantas Ruikis (2/3 triples) and Simas Galdikas (8 rebounds) each, Ernestas Bružas 7.
NKL information
#Golden #final #Gargždai #NKL #champions
– 2024-05-08 00:29:35
