By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Brandon Davies scored 27 points, including 12 in the last five minutes, and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Zalgiris Kaunas to a 93 – 86 road win over Real Madrid. A result that sends the Lithuanian side to the EuroLeague playoffs for a second straight year and automatically eliminates Olympiacos Piraeus.
Among other things, Davies also helped pull off a key defensive play for a steal with the score 83 – 86 and 50 seconds remaining. On the other end, Leo Westermann scored the layup for the 83 – 88, putting his team at a decisive two-possession distance.
Zalgiris held on to its lead until the final buzzer to finish the regular season at the eighth spot after managing six consecutive wins. They will play vs. Fenerbahce Beko in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last season’s semifinal.
“We will go celebrate tonight, at the same time we have to forget about it as quickly as possible and prepare for the best team in Europe,” Zalgiris coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said.
Real Madrid, that played minus Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez, finished the regular season with the third seed. The “Blancos” will face Panathinaikos in the playoffs.
Edy Tavares scored 22 points and grabbed seven boards while Anthony Randolph scored 17 points for Real. The defending EuroLeague champions were down 16 points, 45 – 61, with two minutes in the third period but made it a single-digit affair, 60 – 66, by the end of the quarter. With less than four minutes left to play, a triple by Randolph put Real up 77 – 76, yet Davies’ heroics retook the lead for Zalgiris. This time for good.