Zalgiris Kaunas players will return to Lithuania from Italy with two victories. In the second game of the EuroLeague double-round week, Zalgiris defeated EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 85-82 (17-24, 14-25, 17-17, 37-16) on the road.
The Lithuanian side rallied from 64-37 down midway through the third quarter to produce the second-biggest comeback in the competition history. Dovydas Giedraitis netted a game-high 21 points for the visitors, followed by Sylvain Francisco, who racked up 17 points and 6 assists with a superb individual performance.
Deividas Sirvydis added 11 points for the visitors, who have now registered six straight wins against Italian opposition as Zalgiris seems to have turned Virtus and Milan into happy hunting grounds. At the other end, Nikola Mirotic paced Milan with 17 points and 11 boards, Shavon Shields chipped in with 14 points and Zach LeDay scored 13 for the home team.
Zalgiris carved out an early 7-4 lead but Milan quickly turned the tide and pulled away to 17-24 at the end of the first quarter, with LeDay and Shields pulling the strings for the hosts.
The advantage swelled to 19-34 after Armoni Brooks dropped 6 points in quick succession, rocking the rim with a dunk before he completed a four-point play as he drew a foul while draining a triple.
Milan led 31-49 at halftime and there seemed to be no way back for Zalgiris after the Italian outfit raced clear 37-64 midway through the third quarter, as Mirotic caught fire and sank his shots from all over. However, the visitors then found some momentum with a 9-0 run and having slashed the deficit to 48-66 ahead of the final 10 minutes, they sensed blood and engineered one of the most incredible comebacks in EuroLeague history.
Roared on by a sizeable contingent of travelling fans, Zalgiris closed in to 60-71 but Milan still looked in control after Shields made a pair of clutch shots, a tip-in followed by a mid-range jumper. Zalgiris then resorted to a half-court press which knocked the hosts out of their stride and generated a 16-3 run, turning the match on its head as the Lithuanian outfit edged ahead, 81-78.
The frantic climax produced a huge block by Alen Smailagic on Neno Dimitrijevic, with joyous Zalgiris players and fans dancing in delight after Giedraitis sank a pair of free throws before Brooks failed to force overtime from deep at the other end.
