The opening day of the tournament was all about Lithuanian dominance here in Kuressaare, as the guests from the southmost Baltic State struck gold on all seven of their games.<\/p>\n
Biggest win:\u00a0<\/strong>Zalgiris-Juta \u00a0\u2013 52 points (77-25 vs Kekava) Game round-ups<\/strong><\/p>\n In the tournament\u2019s opening game,\u00a0Kedainiai<\/strong>\u00a0snatched a\u00a054-32\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>victory against\u00a0Tukums<\/strong>\u00a0in the\u00a0M65\/M70 age category<\/strong>. Led by the duo of Jonas Zizliauskas, who dropped 14 points, and Edmnundas Narmontas, who had 12 points and 9 boards, the Lithuanians had no trouble running off with a double-digit lead in the second quarter. Kazimirs Nekrass was the stand-out performer for Tukums, as he finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds.<\/p>\n Vilniaus Senjorai<\/strong>\u00a0also had a strong start to the tournament, taking an easy,\u00a075-50<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0win over Latvian side\u00a0Garkalne\u00a0<\/strong>in the\u00a0M55<\/strong>\u00a0category\u2019s first game. Arvydas Venclovas had a solid showcase, filling the boxscore with 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Arnoldas Masalskis was also impressive for the Lithuanians, putting up 16 points and 5 rebounds. For Garkalne, Gunars Mednis did the heavy lifting, as he fitted a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds to his name. Ziedonis Jansons and Igors Lukis had 13 and 10, respectively.<\/p>\n The day\u2019s biggest blow-out was handed by\u00a0Zalgiris Juta\u00a0<\/strong>to\u00a0Kekava<\/strong>, as the Lithuanians secured a\u00a077-25<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0win in a total lockdown of a defensive performance in the\u00a0M60\u00a0<\/strong>category. Virginijus Mazonas scored 22 points and dished out 6 dimes for his team, while Vytautas Ribinskas added 18 points, 5 rebounds and 8 assists. Eugenijus Kaziliunas and Gediminas Maumevicius finished up with 15 and 10 points, respectively. On the other side, there weren\u2019t too many positives, but Andris Eglitis play stood out as one of the few bright spots.<\/p>\n In the only game where Lithuanians weren\u2019t involved,\u00a0Top Trust<\/strong>\u00a0managed to sneak away with a win against\u00a0Kisis\/Suomi\u00a0<\/strong>in the\u00a0M55\u00a0<\/strong>category, forcing the Finns to surrender,\u00a055-29<\/a><\/strong>. Three players reached double-digit scoring for the victors, as Raoul Jakobson led the way with 14. Ermil Kudkepp added 11, while Riho Kivimae had 10. Peedu Pedaru was flirting with a triple-double all evening long, as he finished the game with 9 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists. Antti Aurila was the scoring leader for Kisis\/Suomi, as he finished with 9 points, while both Jari Salmi and Paavo Tikkanen had 8.<\/p>\n In\u00a0Kedainiu SKK\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a018-point (54-36<\/a><\/strong>) victory over\u00a0Riga\u00a0<\/strong>in the\u00a0M40\u00a0<\/strong>age category, two nightly records were set \u2013 Mindaugas Gelzinis dropped 23 points, while Ramunas Sniurevicius helped him out with 6 points, 4 assists and a whopping 19 rebounds. For Riga, Ivars Epners had 10 points and 7 boards, as Normunds Nedaskovskis had 8.<\/p>\n Tukums<\/strong>\u00a0had no success in the\u00a0M50\u00a0<\/strong>category, either, losing to\u00a0Kauno LT United<\/strong>,\u00a031-70<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong>Uldis Horeliks carried most of the scoring for the losing side, as he dropped 12 points. The Kaunas side enjoyed a more well-rounded performance from its players, as Giedrius Peciulionis led the way with 16. Sigitas Birutis added 14 points and 6 rebounds, while Ramunas Laurinaitis ended up with 12.<\/p>\n Tukums\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0ladies came close to an upset in the\u00a0W40<\/strong>\u00a0group, but ended up losing against\u00a0SKK<\/strong>\u00a0Versan<\/strong>,\u00a035-43<\/a><\/strong>. Lina Grite had a terrific performance for the winning side, scoring 18 points and tearing down 8 rebounds. Renata Radisauskaite added 10. For Tukums, Sanita Netlava had a dozen.<\/p>\n Top Trust<\/strong>\u00a0faced off against\u00a0Kisis\/Suomi<\/strong>\u00a0for the second time, this time in the\u00a0M60\u00a0<\/strong>age category. The game went right down to the wire, as the Finns managed to scrape by and secure a nail-biting\u00a041-44<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0victory. Antti Vihavainen led Kisis\/Suomi in scoring with 16 points, as Jori Tammi and Jukka Sievinen finished up with 12 and 10 points, respectively. They also had 8 rebounds each. Raivo Urva had 12 points and 7 rebounds for Top Trust, Andrus Toom added 11, while Rein Kiudsoo ended the game with 10.<\/p>\n
\nTop scorer:\u00a0<\/strong>Mindaugas Gelzinis (Kedainiu SKK) \u2013 23
\nTop rebounder:\u00a0<\/strong>Ramunas Sniurevicius (Kedainiu SKK) \u2013 19
\nTop assister:\u00a0<\/strong>Peedu Peedaru (Top Triust) \u2013 9<\/p>\n