Zalgiris Kaunas will face Benetton Basket Treviso in the 2009 Citto di Roma tournament following a 111-63 victory over Stella Azzurra to top Group A on Monday evening in Rome, Italy. The Lithuanian side won its group with a record clean of losses. Its smallest winning margin was by 15 points set on the first game of Day 1, followed by a 41 point win against Benetton Fribourg and today another huge margin of 48. The winner in the finals will earn the first ticket to the Nike International Junior Tournament that will be held in Paris, France during the 2010 Euroleague Final Four. Three other teams will earn the same ticket in upcoming qualifying tournaments in following weeks. While Zalgiris took the top spot Stella dropped to 1-2 and will wait for the result of the next game between Montepaschi Siena and Benetton Fribourg to know its final standings in the group. Zalgiris left very little doubts right from the tip off and just like its 15-0 start against Fribourg left Stella very little time to react before taking a 30-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and decide the game early. Six players reached double-digits for Zalgiris led by Tauras Jogela, the MVP of the U16 European Championship last summer, who scored 16 points. Rolandas Jakstas added 15 points with 8 rebounds, Edgaras Ulanovas had 14, Kaspars Vecvagars scored 13 while Marius Grigonis and Egidijus Mockevicius had ten points each. The Latvian Ojars Silins was the top scorer of Stella for the third time in a row with 17 points behind 5 three balls. Zalgiris scored in 74% inside the arc and reached an index rating of 135 against 33 of its opponent to display another example of its dominance.

Mockevicius and Jakstas led Zalgiris to an early 15-3 lead. A block by Silins and a three ball by Giulio Casagrande left some hope for Stella but Jakstas dunked twice to display Zalgiris' elite with a 13-1 run to set the gap on 21 at the end of the first quarter, 30-9. Mockevicius and Vecvagars showed no mercy and kept pushing the gap up, all the way to 40-13 midway in the second quarter. Stella didn't find an answer to the athletic and competitiveness of Zalgiris players who reached a 53-25 difference at the break, and kept the pressure on until the very last second even when the back up players took the court.