By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
AS Monaco snapped back from a five-game skid to beat Zalgiris 107-98 in overtime on the road for Round 15 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. This first meeting of the two EuroLeague clubs was also accompanied by the return of Sasa Obradovic in the competition for the first time since December 2020, when he coached Crvena Zvezda.
It was an intense showdown for both sides, with plenty of changes in the lead all the way through the fourth quarter, and things heated up even more in the final seconds. With the game hanging on a thread and Monaco up by one point, Jure Zdovc was called with a technical foul, which eventually added up to a 94-91 advantage for the visitors with 12 seconds remaining in the game.
Edgaras Ulanovas quickly tied the score to 95 points, forcing the overtime period. Monaco was overwhelming, and with a 12-3 partial score in the extra five-minute period, they escaped Kaunas with the win. “Usually it’s very hard to come back mentally but we did it. I’m happy for the great start“, commented coach Obradovic after the game.
Mike James stared in this exciting showdown for Monaco with a double-double of 20 points and 14 assists, a new career-high in EuroLeague.
Dwayne Bacon led all Monaco scorers with 19 points, Diallo followed with 13 and Yakuba Ouattara posted 11 points.
Janis Strelnieks fired up 22 points and Arturas Milaknis posted 19 with 5-of-6 from the three-point line. Josh Nebo followed with 14 points and Lukas Lekavicius had 13.
Monaco improved to a 6-9 record in the EuroLeague standings and will close off the double-game week against Zenit at home on Friday (19:00 CET). Zalgiris will look to bounce back from its two consecutive defeats and 3-12 record vs. UNICS on the road, also on Friday (17:00 CET).
Photo: EuroLeague