JUNIORS OF MEGA BEAT ZALGIRIS, ONE STEP TO THE FINALS

Juniors of Mega Bemax came to another victory at F8 Junior Euroleague in Istanbul as they after a very uncertain finish mastered Lithuanian Zalgiris with 71:72 (14:18, 9:14, 24:12, 24:28). Players coach Vlada Vukoicic played great in defense in the first half, but repeatedly failed to come off in a safe lead. Zalgiris in late third and early fourth quarter moved into the lead, but the players of Mega again showed character and celebrated in an exciting penalty finish.

The best in the ranks of Mega Bemaxa were Goga Bitadze for 26 points and Mihailo Jovicic with 16 whilein Zalgiris pointed Jokubaitis with 21 points.

Juniors of Mega Bema played excellent in defense for most of the first half, but turnovers and missed lay-ups cost Mega bigger plus.

In the second half the players of Zalgiris started hit threes while the defence of Mega dropped significantly. At three and a half minutes to go with plus 4 for Kaunas, Nedeljkovic hit very important three pointer, and then Bitadze and Matic returned lead to Mega. Zalgiris did not give uo and with three pointer in less than secon to the end managed to reduce to minus 1, but more than they could not and Mega came to a very important victory, 71:72.

Juniors of Mega Bemax will in the third round on Friday from 14 have fight for final with Turkey’s Fenerbahce. If they get favorable result, on Sunday from 9:00 expect them a match for the European title.

Mega Bemax: Miskovic 4, Drobnjak 4, Islamovic, Jovicic 16, Knezevic, Matic 9, Trifunovic, Raickovic, Cerovina, Nedeljkovic 9 (10 rebounds), Matovic 4, Bitadze 26 (7 rebounds, 3 blocks, index 31).

Žalgiris: Vasiliauskas 13, M. Kancleris, Uleckas, N. Kancleris 6, Valinskas , Juozaitis, Jukobaitis 21, Markovetski, Kozys 16, Venskus 8, Arlauskas 7, Bergaudas.

Photo: Angte Final Four Istanbul 2017