By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
After the loss to Real Madrid in WiZink center, Zalgiris traveled to Vitora in their Spanish tour during EuroLeague’s double week, and defeated Baskonia 82-99 in Fernando Buesa Arena to improve their score to 3-1 after four rounds, while Baskonia fell to 1-3.
Rolands Smits led the scoring for the winning side with 21 points and eight rebounds, but Brady Manek had a strong double double with 17 points and 14 rebounds and the highest PIR of 27. Keenan Evans had 14 points, as Dovydas Giedraitis and Tomas Dimsa added 13 each.
Chima Moneke had a monster game for the hosts, finishing with 32 points and just a rebound shy of a double-double, but only Marcus Howard followed him with 26 points, and 6/13 from beyond the arc.
Zalgiris took control already in the first quarter, going into the first break with a 22-14 lead. Baskonia tried to fight back, but the guests stayed in front and even improved their advantage in the third period, entering the crucial 10 minutes with a score of 74-61. The hosts gave their all to return to the game and managed to come within six points, but that was it from Joan Penarroya’s side. The Kaunas team rose up again, grabbed a double-digit lead and it was all over in Vitoria.
“The match was very tough for us playing here. I can’t remember when was the last time Zalgiris won here, so I’m very happy for the win. We did it more for our offense, especially in the second half. We had a problem with Moneke; he punished us with three-pointers, but we did a good job with Howard. We fought until the end and deserved this win,” Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis said at the press conference.
Photo: euroleaguebasketball.net