By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Louis Labeyrie scored a career-high 22 points on 4/5 3-pointers as Valencia repelled Zalgiris Kaunas’ comeback attempt from a 13-point deficit (59-72) in the fourth period to win 86 – 82 and capture its first road victory on the road this season in EuroLeague.
Valencia needed to be ice cold from the free-throw line in the final minute to push back Zalgiris’ efforts. With the score 76 – 82 and 30 seconds left, KC Rivers and Edgaras Ulanovas made two triples but their opponents went 4/4 from the stripe to remain at a game-winning distance.
Labeyrie had previously hit a big 3-pointer from the corner for the 70 – 78. “Practice,” the French forward said to EuroLeague TV when he was asked when was the last time he made four 3-pointers. He was 1/9 in EuroLeague prior to the match. Thanks to him and Quino Colom (12 points, nine assists), Valencia improved to 5-8.
Ulanovas finished with 16 points while Thomas Walkup had 15 points and six assists for Zalgiris that suffered its seventh loss in a row and dropped to 3-10.
No tricks, just work
Zalgiris Kaunas has been immensely struggling this season in EuroLeague and is currently at the bottom of the standings. For coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, all his squad can do is keep working towards making a turnaround.
“I never believed in miracles. There’s no magic stick. We’ll work as we always do. We will try to take something from a post-game video session. We will work hard, be patient, develop our new stars and wait for a new leader,” Jasikevicius said per Donatas Urbonas.
Photo: EuroLeague.net