By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lonnie Walker is back in the NBA, however, Sylvain Francisco had 25 points, Alen Smailagic added 15, and Zalgiris Kaunas returned to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action after the cup break with a big road win over Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet.
The final score was 86-80 as Zalgiris improved to 13-14 and can still hope for a spot in the post season, while Zvezda had a solid 16-11, but in theory has to defend their homecourt better.
Filip Petrusev, with 16 points, and Nenanja Nedovic, with 14, were the top scorers of the losing side, which simply didn’t have the answer to 13/23, which was made threes by the guests.
“We played really hard and we executed the game on offense pretty well,” Francisco said. “The most important thing was that we made 2-3 stops and converted them into them into points. This is the team of Zalgiris. We needed that and we did good.”
Zalgiris in control
The game was balanced in the first half, however, Zalgiris closed the first period up by one (23-22) and built a 5-point cushion with Smailagic scoring already 10 points on 4/4 FG for the 41-36.
The hosts were trailing by one (44-43) at halftime, with Petrusev having 12 points and Bolomboy adding 10, but things changed in the second half.
Zvezda opened the third period taking a 46-44 lead after a three by Petrusev, but the guests didn’t back down, got the advantage, and created an eight-point distance (64-54) after a three by Deividas Sirvydis.
A three by Fransico almost at the buzzer made it a seven-point game (67-60) entering the fourth quarter, and Zvezda couldn’t get closer than five points (75-70). Bryant Dunston pushed Zalgiris’ lead to 11 points (81-70), and the game was over.
By tooth and claw, the hosts trimmed the lead to five (83-78) with one minute left, but it was too late.
“Amazing game. We wanted to dream and we dreamed. It was a magic night. Don’t wake me up,” Zalgiris coach Andea Trinchieri said. “We didn’t do the small things but we did the big things. The spirit and the desire to sacrifice for the team were at the highest possible level.”
Photo credit: EuroLeague