By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas made a big comeback in the third quarter and managed to overcome Maccabi Tel Aviv 85-83 in a thrilling finish of EuroLeague Round 27.
The game stayed fairly balanced in the fourth quarter but Arturas Milaknis’ three-pointer with 1:40 left on the clock was crucial as neither side could score until Thomas Walkup stepped on the free throw line with ten seconds left making both shots and securing the game for Zalgiris.
Leo Westermann led the victors with 16 points while Thomas Walkup added 14 in addition to Brandon Davies and Marius Grigonis’ 12 points each.
For Maccabi, Tarik Black and Scottie Wilbekin banked 18 points each while Yovel Zoosman scored ten.
Despite turning the ball over 13 times in the first half, Maccabi was shooting great from deep (6-11) and controlled the board while Zalgiris couldn’t find their groove from behind the arc (2-12). Black banked eight points in the first quarter while Wilbekin added eight in the second quarter as Maccabi went on the break with a 45-36 advantage.
Coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos was quite disappointed: “This is a bad result for us. We started very nervous, we were not 100 percent and that’s why we turned it over 22 times. This is a very big number in a close game. Off our turnovers, they scored 30 points. In the fourth quarter we were leading with fouls to give, and we should have stopped some easy baskets. We didn’t have a good game, and we couldn’t keep the lead when we got it. The foul problems for Scottie Wilbekin disorganised the team, and some of our decisions near the end should have been better. We have three more games and we will fight to the end. I want to thank our fans for supporting us to the end.”
After the halftime rest, Maccabi further increased the lead to 13 points (52-39) forcing coach Sarunas Jasikevicius to call a timeout but that was when Zalgiris ‘woke up’. The Lithuanians made a 16-1 run to get right back into the game although they were still a bit behind (59-57) in front of the final ten minutes but managed to overcome the gap and grab a narrow win in the end.
“We changed some things and the guys finally started to follow the game plan. We didn’t have a good game for a long time, they were beating us up. But all game long we were creating good shots, we were just missing them. In the end we started making them, and basketball with three-point shooting is a different game”, coach Jasikevicius explained.
This win kept Zalgiris’ playoff hopes alive as they improved to 12-15 and are now tied with Maccabi but trail two wins behind the eighth spot with three Rounds remaining.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague