By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Monaco flirted with disaster against Zalgiris for 40 minutes. In the end, after overtime, the Monegasques got the win, and that’s all that matters.
The final score was 96-86 as Monaco moved to a 19-12 record and remains all alone on the fourth spot of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
On the other side, Zalgiris dropped to 14-17, remains on the 13th spot, and can’t hope for much.
Mike James, with 22 points, eight rebounds, and three assists, was the leader of Monaco again. Ellie Okobo added 21 points, Jaron Blossomgame also had a huge night with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Daniel Their contributed 16 points and nine rebounds.
“We showed some heart today”, said James in his post-game interview and elaborated: “It was a do or die game for us, we are fighting both for the playoffs and the homecourt advantage. So it’s a big win for us”.
Nick Calathes also returned to action, with two points and three assists in nine minutes on the court.
Sylvain Francisco scored 19 points but lost the chance to win the game, and Ignas Brazdeikis added 17 points.
Saved in overtime
Monaco got an 11-10 lead after four minutes of action, and what followed was an 11-0 run by Zalgiris (21-11), with Ignas Brazdeikis scoring 10 first-quarter points and the guests having a 23-15 advantage after the opening quarter.
Suddenly, the hosts had to chase and made it a five-point game (26-21) after two free throws by Mike James. Zalgiris stretched the distance again to 13 points (34-21) with a quick 8-0 run. A three by Sylvain Fransisco pushed the lead to 15 (42-27), but Monaco, with two threes by Matthew Strazel and Alpha Diallo, closed the gap to six points (46-40).
The guests trimmed the halftime lead to four (48-44), essentially turning the tide with Daniel Theis closing the first half with 11 points.
That was even more evident when the score was tied at 51 early in the third period thanks to a three by Okobo. The game turned into a dogfight with Zalgiris by tooth and claw entering the last period leading by seven (65-58) after a crucial three by Deividas Sirvydis.
Zalgiris even extended the lead to nine points (67-58) with the first basket of the fourth quarter, made by Isaiah Wong, but Monaco finally tied the score again at 73 with two minutes left, and everything was down to details.
James, with one more three, tied the score at 78. Arnas Butksevicius gave Zalgiris the 80-78 lead with 17 seconds left, and the Lithuanians immediately fouled Theis, who made two free throws (80-80). Both Sylvain Francisco and Edgaras Ulanovas missed potential winning shots and lost a huge chance as the game went into overtime.
James opened the extra five minutes with five straight points to give Monaco an 85-80 lead, and that was it. Okobo added two more from the free-throw line (87-80), and Zalgiris couldn’t get back into sticking distance.
As coach Vassilis Spanoulis put it: “Can you imagine this? We played our best defense in overtime, we waited until then”.
Photo credit: EuroLeague