Zalgiris Kaunas (13-14) returned to the EuroLeague after a 3-week break. Andrea Trinchieri’s team beat Crvena Zvezda Belgrade (16-11) by 86-80 (23-22, 21-21, 23-17, 19-20) on the road.
Sylvain Francisco served up a masterclass as he sank a game-high 25 points, shooting 6-of-9 from downtown, while Alen Smailagic chipped in with 15 and Deividas Sirvydis added 12 for the Lithuanian outfit.
At the other end, Filip Petrusev paced Zvezda with 16 points but 10 of them came in the first quarter, after which Zalgiris did a grand job containing the Serbian side’s clutch player. Nemanja Nedovic netted 14 points for the hosts, Joel Bolomboy scored 12 and Codi Miller-McIntyre added 11.
Zalgiris swung the contest its way late in the third quarter when it carved out a 64-56 lead and never looked back, with the game being a rollercoaster up to that point as the lead changed hands time and again in the cauldron of the Belgrade Arena.
Carried by fervent home crowd support, Zvezda overcame a slow start and managed to stay in touch thanks to the versatile Petrusev and Bolomboy, whose power in the paint compensated for 6 turnovers in the first quarter.
Zalgiris was effervescent from long range in the opening half as the visiting team sank 7 of 11 from deep, with Francisco netting 12 points and the fired-up Smailagic adding 10. Smailagic drew offensive energy from his personal rivalry with Zvezda as a longtime former player of archrival Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade.
The big man was flawless from the floor as he was 6 of 6, sinking 3 three-pointers and as many shots from inside.
A 9-2 run late in the third quarter allowed Zalgiris to pull away and having led 67-60 ahead of the final 10 minutes, the Lithuanian team stayed in control as Francisco hit one clutch shot after another to keep Zvezda at bay.
A four-point play from Nedovic gave Zvezda a glimmer of hope as the home team slashed the deficit to 75-70 in the home stretch, but Zalgiris held firm to grind out a precious win keeping the Lithuanian champion in contention for a postseason berth.
