By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas bounced back from consecutive defeats to take down Crvena Zvezda Mts Belgrade with a 75-62 win on Tuesday, for a Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 24 makeup game in Kaunas.
After trailing 40-44 in halftime, the hosts used a strong comeback in the third period to recover from the deficit and get in charge of the game (60-58, 30′). An 8-0 run at the beginning of the fourth sealed the foundations for the final victory, as Martin Schiller saw multiple scorers putting up double digits.
Marius Grigonis paced the Lithuanian side with 17 points and 6 assists, Nigel Hayes tapped 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists and Augustine Rubit produced 15 points and 8 rebounds, as Zalgiris moves up to a 14-10 record and stays in touch with the playoffs zone.
“I thought the guys locked in and were very focused in the second half, tactically. And then also, I want to say that obviously Red Star ran out of gas. One can’t forget that. They’re hit badly [with injury and sickness]. Walden was here but didn’t play. So, with all the respect, we have to give them that. They fought hard but we also wore them down in the end”, said Schiller after the game.
Depleted Zvezda only scored four points in the fourth quarter and slipped its fifth game in a row to fall to a 7-17 record. Marko Simonovic and Jordan Loyd paced all scorers for Dejan Radonjic’s squad with 16 points each and youngster Aleksa Uskokovic had 9 points.
Corey Walden traveled with the rest of the Serbian team to Kaunas after recovering from COVID-19, though he remained sidelined, as Zvezda also lacked Borisa Simanic.
Photo: EuroLeague