Zalgiris handed a big upset in Siauliai

Siauliai handed Betsafe LKL leaders Zalgiris only their fourth defeat of the season, surprising the defending champions with a 93-90 upset on Easter Monday in front of a yellow-and-blue crowd of 5,200.

The win saw the home side climb to fifth place in the standigns with an 11-17 record, while Zalgiris dropped to 24-4 and now only has a one-game lead over second-placed Lietuvos Rytas.

Having trailed for most for the game, the powerhouse from Kaunas appeared to have steadied the ship when they took their first lead of the game with 2:03 left in the fourth quarter at 88-86 but Donatas Sabeckis and Laurynas Birutis had other ideas.

The incredible Siauliai duo had all the answers on both ends of the floor and gave the home fans a big upset to celebrate.

Birutis was the team's leading scorer with 21 points and 5 rebounds, while Sabeckis double-doubled with 11 points and 12 assists. Nick Zeisloft also had a stellar game with 19 points, with Ignas Vaitkus scoring 15 but leaving the game with an injury in his first Betsafe LKL game after a five-month absence.

For Zalgiris, Brandon Davies had a game-high 25 points, Arturas Milaknis collected 19 points, while team captain Paulius Jankunas was the only double-digit scorer with 13 points.

In the other game of the day, ninth-placed Nevezis increased their separation from the relegation zone and the bottom-placed Vytautas with a 77-61 win over Pieno Zvaigzdes in Kedainiai.

Gabas Maldunas led the charge with 18 points and 9 rebounds, Vaidotas Volkus had a solid 10-point and 2-block contribution in 16 minutes, while Aleksandr Zakharov and Lester Medford finished with 9 points each.

Having had to play without top scorer Vyacheslav Bobrov and team captain Steponas Babrauskas, Pieno Zvaigzdes did not find a go-to player throughout the course of the game.

Trevon Hughes was the only player in double figures with 10 points and 9 rebounds but he needed 15 field goal attempts to get there.

The win kept Nevezis (8-20) in contention for the Play-Offs, closing the gap to the eight-placed Dzukija to just one game. Meanwhile, Pieno Zvaigzdes fell to sixth with a 11-17 mark.