By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Bruno Fitipaldo showed why Galatasaray chose to sign him during mid-season, dropping 21 points and dishing out 6 assists in his team’s 87 – 79 victory over Zalgiris Kaunas.
This was quite the “do or die” game for the Cimbom that managed to improve their EuroLeague record to 5 – 12 and. At least, they retain their mathematical hopes for the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Zalgiris Kaunas fell to 6 – 11 and is now at the 14th spot of the standings, despite 18 points by Brock Motum and 14 plus 7 rebounds by Paulius Jankunas.
Apart from the workings of the Uruguayan guard, Tibor Pleiss scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds while Sinan Guler added 16 and 4 assists. But more importantly, the captain of Galatasaray provided his help in more than a timely fashion.
Zalgiris had been kept a distance from most of the game after the first quarter (17 – 17) by its opponents but always remained a danger which was increased in the fourth quarter. When coach Jasikevicius’ players made it 65 – 62, Guler’s action began with one basket after the other to push back every efforts the Lithuanian squad made to become a thorn in his team’s side.
Guler scored for the 68 – 62, was behind a 5 – 0 run that made it 74 – 68 a bit later and “wrote” the 78 – 73 with 2:19 to go. Fitipaldo then emerged once again to seal his team’s win with a basket plus a late free throw for the 83 – 75, 36 seconds before the final buzzer.