By Eurohoops Team / info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas bounced back after the loss at Bamberg, defeating Valencia Basket 86-82 in a thriller and improving its record to 12-7. Vidorreta’s team slipped to 6-13.
The last five minutes: With just five minutes on the clock, Valencia came back and went up ahead (73-72) with Pleiss scoring down low and Will Thomas making a difference. Milaknis’ three-pointer at 38′ (79-73) gave Zalgiris confidence for the final two minutes, but Pleiss answered right back (79-76).
Kavaliauskas scored his first points of the night (81-76) and then got a foul on the other end of the court. The lead increased to seven (83-76) but Thomas had another answer, scoring back to back three-pointers and cutting this lead to one point (83-82). In the final possession, Thomas had a chance to take the lead but missed the shot. Pangos converted on his first free-throw (84-82) missed the second, but White got the huge offensive rebound to seal the deal.
The star: Kevin Pangos was dishing out assists all night. He finished with a double-double: 11 points and a career-high 15 assists (also a team record for Zalgiris) in an all-around game.
In his 100th straight EuroLeague game, Paulius Jankunas was good for the winners. He finished with 11 points and six rebounds. Axel Toupane added 18 points. White ended up with 11 points and 8 rebounds coming up big.
The game: With an impressive 13-0 run in the first three minutes, Zalgiris perfectly responded to Tuesday’s loss. Coach Saras remained calm, unlike Tuesday’s game. Even though he was scoreless in the first half, Pangos had 10 assists leading his team to 47-31 lead at the half. Zalgiris out-rebounded Valencia 19 to 9 in the first twenty minutes.
In the second half, Valencia cut this deficit to just six points with Erick Green leading the way (63-57). In mid-third quarter Bojan Dubljevic exited the game due to a leg injury.
Not enough: Will Thomas finished with 19 points for Valencia almost completing an amazing comeback in the final period. Tibor Pleiss added 23.
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