Zalgiris Kaunas (12-14) lost 87-89 (16-24, 26-26, 24-17, 21-22) to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan (14-12) in the EuroLeague Round 26 game in a packed Zalgirio Arena.
Zach LeDay paced Milan with 26 points, Niccolo Mannion netted a career-high 21 points and Shavon Shields added 17.
For Zalgiris, Sylvain Francisco registered a game-high 29 points, Lonnie Walker IV scored 22 and Deividas Sirvydis had 17.
Four points from Mannion were followed by buckets from LeDay and Leandro Bolmaro as Milan grabbed a 4-9 lead. A timeout helped Zalgiris regroup and bounce back, with Edgaras Ulanovas scoring in the paint before Francisco and Walker IV drilled one each from deep to put the hosts ahead, 12-11. A basket by Shields and 5 points from LeDay brought Milan back in front, 14-18. Then, Neno Dimitrijevic and Giampaolo Ricci opened their accounts from inside, stretching Milan’s lead to 16-24.
Five points from Francisco and a triple by Sirvydis brought Zalgiris within 24-28. Shields added 3 points to his tally before Armoni Brooks responded to a triple by Francisco with one of his own to maintain a 29-34 cushion. Four points from LeDay were followed by a layup from Shields, who opened a 31-39 lead. But Sirvydis netted 5 straight points before Francisco drilled his fourth triple of the game, trimming the deficit to 39-43. LeDay responded by taking his tally to 18 first-half points and Mannion drained one from downtown for a 42-50 lead at halftime.
Milan started strong in the second half, with Mannion and Shields netting 4 points apiece to make it 50-60. Stefano Tonut drilled a three before buckets by Dimitrijevic and Shields gave Milan a 55-67 cushion. But Walker IV and Alen Smailagic took over with 5 and 4 points, respectively, slashing the deficit to 66-67 heading into the fourth.
Mannion opened the closing quarter with a four-point play, but Sirvydis made 4 of 4 from the line and Francisco hit one from deep to put the hosts ahead, 73-71. Shields responded with a triple before 4 points by Mannion gave Milan a 75-78 cushion. The game turned into a free-throw affair, with LeDay taking his tally to 22 points and restoring a 77-83 lead from the charity stripe. Francisco converted a three-point play and Walker IV nailed a midrange jumper that cut the difference to 82-84. LeDay netted 4 straight points and Shields sealed the outcome from the line.
