The big news from Lithuania this weekend? That would be Šiauliai’s 96-95 squeaker of an upset of traditional powerhouse Lietuvos Rytas in LKL play; L.Rytas is now “only” 10-2 in the domestic league, a full two games behind Žalgiris Kaunas. Additionally, the defending back-to-back champs are just 1½ games (or one point) ahead of 9-3 Rūdupis, with Siauliai now 8-4.
The secret to Šiauliai’s success? Simply bringing too much David Weaver. Weaver helped control this game for Siauliai, exposing much soft play by Lietuvos Rytas; the rookie out of Wake Forest completely dominated inside for a team-high 17 points and a seriously game-high 11 rebounds – and nine on the offensive side. (How high? L. Rytas as a whole was good for 28 rebounds against Šiauliai’s 33 with no individual managing more than five boards against the Weaver machine.)
That, and a collapse by Lietuvos Rytas in the fourth, with Šiauliai outscoring, 31-19.
Want further proof? Take a look at the video below, a virtual season highlight clip for Weaver in just over 24 minutes of play. This Demon Deacon may just have turned in the European game of the month…
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