By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a close game that was decided in the closing seconds, Zalgiris Kaunas prevailed over Crvena Zvezda (93-91) after a close call.
After getting an unsportsmanlike foul with 24 seconds left, Edgaras Ulanovas made one of two free throws. Zalgiris had the ball and a 93-89 lead after two free throws by Tomas Dimsa.
Yago Dos Santos answered back with two free throws for Zvezda, but with 10 seconds left, neither Zalgiris nor the hosts could score.
However, before Dimsa’s trip to the foul line, there was a questionable no-call as Keenan Evans might, or might have not stepped on the line for a backcourt violation.
The game was interrupted for some minutes as objects were thrown to the court by Zvezda fans.
“I never comment on the referee’s decision, because if I do, I will get punished. On the other side, the whole gym saw something so it can’t be a mistake of 20.000 fans,” reacted the head coach of the losing side Giannis Sfairopoulos.
Evans making things happen
Once more Keenan Evans was the star of the Zalgiris show with 25 points and making 5/10 threes. Rolands Smits added 13 points for the winning side.
For the hosts who played without Milos Teodosic, Yago Dos Santos scored 21 points and dished 14 assists.
“It was very difficult to handle the game, defensively and offensively,” mentioned Sfairopoulos on missing playmaking options.
The game was close from wire to wire with Zalgiris having the lead, but no more than four points in the second half.
“It was a very complicated game to play with a lot of small things that were impacting the momentum, the result, and the rotation of the players,” explained Andrea Trinchieri, play-caller of the Kaunas outfit, “I believe we fought for 40 minutes. We made a lot of mistakes. Zvezda played very very physical. And we lost a little bit the discipline. But we go home with a huge win on the road.”