Šiauliai club triumphed at home 96:93 (19:27, 27:24, 31:14, 19:28).
The intrigue in this duel was alive until the final siren. 32 seconds later, Šiauliai team gained a 3-point advantage (96:93) after the team’s newcomer Issufas Sanonas, and on the other side of the field, 9 seconds before the end of the half, the tall man of Prienai team Rapolas Ivanauskas threw the three-point lead.
The guests could still tear off the overtime, but the throw flew past, and Martynas Varnas rebounded the ball in the defense and scored in the last seconds, marking the thirteenth victory of Šiauliai this season.
It was the third and final confrontation between these teams this season. The people of Šiauliai won the first duel 109: 88, in the second they had to work a little longer due to the victory, 86:80.
The debutant of the Betsafe-LKL championship and the newcomer of Šiauliai-7Bet I. Sanonas played a fantastic match. The young basketball player from Ukraine made his debut in Šiauliai, earning as many as 30 points. The Ukrainian account also has 3 rebounds and 3 assists, 33 utility points. It was this basketball player who was born in 1999 and became the author of the last goal throw and the most productive player of the match.
This time the match was much better started by the guests from Prienai. In the first quarter alone, the people of Prienai scored 27 points and won it by 8 points. In the second quarter, both teams showed an impressive attack (27:24), and during the long break, “Hello GAS” was still 5 points ahead.
However, the image in Šiauliai city arena turned upside down immediately after the break. Antanas Sireika’s students started the third quarter with much more energy in both the attack and the defense. The hosts were able to score 31 points in the third quarter alone, thus closing the gap and breaking strong ahead.
A. Sireka’s army won the third quarter at 31:14 and after that it seemed that the Prienai team would not be able to escape.
However, the young Prienai team found enough strength and demonstrated their character, consistently reducing the backlog during the fourth quarter and moving the intrigue into decisive moments.
After this victory, Šiauliai-7Bet rises to the fifth place in the tournament table, “Labas GAS” remains in the last place.
