Dramatic finish in Kaunas: Lekavicius comes in clutch to save the day for Zalgiris over Baskonia / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: D.Repečka Credit D.Repečka

Zalgiris Kaunas (3-10) edged out Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (4-9) 72-68 (21-19, 19-13, 11-14, 21-22) to get their third win in four Turkish Airlines EuroLeague matches.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Lukas Lekavičius Points 13 Accuracy 4-7 Rebounds 2 Assists 9

Zalgiris played a better stretch at the start of the fourth quarter (55-46), but Baskonia responded with a 9-2 run to tie the game at 63.

Jason Granger nailed two threes in a row. However, Lukas Lekavicius fired up for Zalgiris and scored 8 points in a row. Thus, Zalgiris had a 6-point lead with 35 seconds to play (71-65).

Lamar Peters hit from a distance with 23 seconds on the clock (68-71), Zalgiris made a mistake in throwing the ball, but Simone Fontecchio did not convert a two-pointer from under the basket.

In the end, Tyler Cavanaugh scored one free throw (72-68), as Baskonia did not nail two shots. The Lithuanian squad celebrated the tough victory.

"Congratulations to my players for the win," Zdovc said happily after the win. "I said this would be a fight for every possession. Maybe we could have broken away in the game two or three times earlier but we didn’t."

"They are a good team. Also in the end we were a little bit lucky, but generally we played good defense," Zdovc added.

For the winners, Lukas Lekavicius accumulated 13 points (3/5 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 4/4 FT), 2 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, 5 drawn fouls, and 23 PIR.

Steven Enoch posted a double-double for Baskonia with 13 points (6/9 2PT, 0/1 3PT, 1/1 FT), 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 3 drawn fouls, and 23 PIR.

"I would like to congratulate Zalgiris for the win tonight," Neven Spahija said after the game. "They deserve it more than us. Our second half was way better than the first half. We fought more and played better defense. But we committed the same types of mistakes offensively as we have game after game. We gotta play better."

Zalgiris: Lukas Lekavicius 13 (9 AST), Josh Nebo 10 (5/8 2PT, 6 REB), Mantas Kalnietis 10 (2/3 3PT, 5 AST).

Baskonia: Steven Enoch 13 (6/9 2PT, 10 REB, 3 STL), Simone Fontecchio 12 (4/8 2PT, 4 STL), Jayson Granger 11 (3/8 3PT, 6 AST), Lamar Peters 10 (2/7 3PT).

Highlights

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