Lietuvos Rytas is the new champion of the Nike International Junior Tournament
In the 10th edition of the tournament Rytas won its first title after losing the final of 2009 to INSEP. Edvinas Seskus had 17 points for the new champs, Augustinas Jankaitis added 15, Tautvydas Jodelis finished with 12 and Alvydas Zarskus collected 11. James Birsen led the runner-ups with 20 points, Umar Atin finished with 13 and Mehmet Sanli collected 11 points with 14 rebounds. One player that made it to the record books of the NIJT is Jokubas Gintvainis of Rytas won dished 10 assists and by that tied the record for most assists in an NIJT final round tournament set by FMP's Nenad Miljenovic in 2009 against Lietovus Rytas.
Game Info
The first quarter was still close with Jankaitis scoring around the rim to set the gap on 20-14 before Sanli displayed his abilities to make it 22-20 at the sound of the first buzzer. Jodelis capped a 7-0 run that put Rytas in front by nine points, and his jumper right before the end of the first half pushed Rytas to a 42-31 lead at the end of the first half. If FB-Ulker had any fantasies to move closer the first minutes of the second half were a wake up call. Jankaitis added points around the rim and set the score on 49-33 with less than 17 minutes to play. Low accuracy by FB-Ulker allowed Zarskus to set the gap on 71-51 early in the deciding quarter and despite some long range shots by Birsen there was no hope for his team to complete a comeback.
