Tofas lock up Zalgiris in the fourth quarter to secure a victory / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Žalgiris twitter Credit Žalgiris twitter

On the third day of the Gloria Cup,Tofas Bursa beat Zalgiris Kaunas, 71-57 (16-23, 14-16, 18-14, 23-4), providing the fourth loss in a row for the Lithuanian club.

Zalgiris started the match well and gained an 8-2 lead after Ulanovas and Milaknis' threes. Tofas did not panic and quickly stabilized their positions. In the second part of the period, the Lithuanian squad effectively used the bonus situations and won the first quarter by 7 points (23-16). Zalgiris shot 12 free throws in the first 10 minutes.

Schiller's team also faced rotation troubles after Janis Strelnieks wasn't able to continue the game. Yet before the match, Zalgiris lined up 11 players, as Mantas Kalnietis and Karolis Lukosiunas were missing. Kalnietis suffered inflammation of the Achilles tendon in the first game of the Gloria Cup.

In the second quarter, Tofas made an 8-0 run. However, Zalgiris responded back and regained the lead. They did not release the game control till the end of the first half.After 20 minutes, the scoreboard was showing 39-30.

In the third, the Turkish club came out strong again. They organized a 6-0 spurt thanks to Shepherd, Cook and cut the deficit to 3 points. Zalgiris managed to recover like in the second period. Although Tofas played a better stretch at the end of the quarter, they were still behind by 5 points (53-48).

In the last period, Zubcic made a two-pointer, Cruz hit 2 threes in a row, Berk, Simmons generated 6 points and Tofas got 9 points advantage (16-0 run). They left Zalgiris without points in the first 7 minutes of the fourth quarter. Tofas' defensive intensity made the difference in the game and Zalgiris were not able to get back on track.

Tofas: Kasey Shepherd 18, Elgin Cook 13 (10 REB, 4 AST), Berk Ugurlu 10, Tomislav Zubcic 9, Pako Cruz 8.

Zalgiris: Lukas Lekavicius 10, Edgaras Ulanovas 9, Joffrey Lauvergne 8 (11 REB), Niels Giffey 8 (5 TO), Emmanuel Mudiay 6 (5 REB, 2 AST, 6 TO), Arturas Milaknis 6.

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