Zalgiris Kaunas reached the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT Finals for the 11th time in 13 years as it beat VEF Riga 87-65 to win the Kaunas qualifier for the second straight year. Martynas Echodas scored 21 points and Laurynas Birutis collected 15 points and 14 rebounds for Zalgiris, which has never lost a game in three qualifying tournaments at Zalgirio Arena – including the 2012 edition. Laurynas Beliauskas added 14 points, five rebounds, seven assists and three steals while Arnoldas Kulboka chipped in 10 points and eight rebounds for Zalgiris, which beat VEF in the Kaunas final last season as well. VEF Riga was paced by 23 points from Karlis Silins while Rodions Kurucs had 16 points, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks and Kristers Zorkis had 10 points.

Birutis scored the first basket of the title game and Mykolas Dieninis’ free throw was followed by an Echodas jumper for a 5-0 Zalgiris lead. Kristaps Feikners finally got VEF Riga on the scoreboard after four scoreless possessions with two free throws at the 7:25 minute mark. Beliauskas got an acrobatic driving layup to fall and Birutis made two free throws to make it 9-6 before Kurucs nailed a trey from the right wing to even the game at 9-9. VEF continued to try its luck from the outside and Zalgiris fed the ball inside as Echodas scored five straight points for a 14-9 lead and a VEF time out. Echodas added two more free throws and Birutis put back an offensive rebound as the lead grew to nine points. Beliauskas got a tough layup to go and Gytis Masiulis made one free throw for a 21-9 lead. Martynas Varnas pushed the margin to 23-9 before Silins finally scored again for VEF with two free throws. Zalgiris continued to be more efficient on offense with Arnolda Kulboka and Beliauskas nailing three-balls and Varnas and Echodas throwing down dunks in an 11-3 run for a 34-14 advantage. Another Kulboka score made it 38-18 before Silins scored two straight baskets to trim it to 38-22. Kulboka answered with a three-pointer and Birutis completed a three-point play as Zalgiris was up 46-26 at intermission.

VEF tried to get back into the game in the third quarter with Kurucs scoring three baskets in getting the deficit down to 48-33. The Latvian side still struggled to stop Birutis, who scored to make it 52-33. The VEF push continued though as Zorkis nailed a three-ball from the right wing and Zigmars Raimo went up and under to pull the gap to 52-40. Birutis and Echodas combined for six points as Zalgiris pushed the lead back to 18 points – 60-42. VEF had one more push left as Silins and Kurucs scored before a Eduards Hazners three-pointer and Silins three-point play had the Latvian club within 60-52. Masiulis’ put-back made it 65-54 after 30 minutes. VEF ran out of gas by that point as Masiulis scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to start a 10-0 run to make it 75-54. VEF didn’t score in the final period until Zorkis’ three-pointer with 5:45 minutes left to get the deficit to 75-57. Echodas answered with a three-point play and VEF did not get closer than 20 points – 81-61 – the rest of the way and Zalgiris upped the lead to 24 points.