Rock put up a good fight against Zalgiris On Friday, Estonian champions TU/Rock hosted Lithuanian champions Zalgiris Kaunas in Tartu University Sportshall, in the first game of the SEB BBL new season in Estonia. In front of more than 3000 spectators, Rock put up a good performance, holding the winning hopes alive until the middle of third quarter. Then Zalgiris headed their own way, ending the game with a firm victory 63:76. TU/Rock had started the season with two embarrassing losses against the local rival BC Kalev/Cramo. Both in Cup final and opening game of championships, Rock had dominated in first half but later fallen to pieces. Meanwhile, Zalgiris had destroyed Barons in their first game of the SEB BBL season. Today's game started with a confident play of hosts and lots of mistakes by guests, seemingly underestimating Estonian team. 213-cm center Brian Cusworth was hard to stop as he collected 11 points in 1st quarter, leading Rock to 25:20 advantage. Zalgiris made six turnovers in 1st quarter, Rock made only two. Rock also suprised everybody, clearly dominating rebounds. Janar Talts collected four offensive rebounds in 1st quarter. On the other hand, Rock couldn't stop opponents from three-point sharpshooting. Jonas Maciulis dropped two triples, keeping Zalgiris in contest. In 2nd, Zalgiris kept shooting from a long range and everybody besides Marko Popovic were on fire. Brown, Maciulis and Kalnietis made most of their points from behind the arc whereas Rock made only 1 of 8 three-pointers in first half. With two minutes to play, Zalgiris went ahead 33:34 after outscoring hosts 2:11 in four minutes, including two three-pointrs from Kalnietis. Rock didn't give up. Cusworth and Tsintadze scored to give Rock 37:36 halftime advantage. Interestingly, Marko Popovic and Goran Jurak were held scoreless in first half. Cusworth had 15 for Rock, Talts had enormous 7 offensive rebounds, already. 3rd quarter turned out to be a decisive one. With three minutes played, Rock was ahead for the last time - 44:42 after another good shot from Cusworth, bringing him up to 17 points. Then, Popovic made his first shot, taking Zalgiris ahead 44:45. Maciulis added five points in a row, Collins and Popovic sank back-to-back three-pointers. Eurelijus Zukauskas had a second-chance basket and suddenly the guests were up by thirteen - 45:58, completing 1:16 run. Another triple from Kalnietis made the gap to 15, already, and the rest of the game became a formality. Third quarter ended 51:65. In 4th, Zalgiris calmly kept a to-digit advantage. The only time, Rock came a bit closer were with a minute-and-half to go when Asko Paade made it 63:72. Zalgiris made two last shots, making up the final score. For the winners, Paulius Jankunas collected 14 points, Jonas Maciulis and Mantas Kalnietis added 13 points. Brian Cusworth scored 19 points, Janar Talts added 10 points and 12 rebounds, 7 of them offensive. Asko Paade who missed entire season due to an injury, finished the game with 8 points, playing only 9 minutes.

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