Zalgiris Kaunas held off a late charge from Virtus Bologna to grab an 86-65 win in the EuroLeague Round 7 at Zalgirio Arena, with Sylvain Francisco running the show for the Lithuanian side. After getting off to a red-hot start, Zalgiris cooled off in the second and third quarters, which allowed Virtus to enter the final frame trailing by single digits.
Two Matt Morgan scores pulled Virtus within 4 points in the fourth, but Francisco stepped up once more by netting 13 fourth-quarter points and dishing 4 more assists to make things comfortable once again for Zalgiris, which won its second straight game.
Tomas Masiulis’s men are now 5-2, while Dusko Ivanovic’s Virtus saw its three-game winning streak come to an end as it fell to 4-3.
Francisco had a 23-point, 10-assist double-double, and he was one of five Zalgiris players who scored in double digits. Moses Wright paired 14 points with 8 rebounds, Dustin Sleva netted 13 points, Deividas Sirvydis poured in 11, and Azuolas Tubelis finished with 10 points and 7 boards.
For Virtus, Morgan scored 19 points and Alen Smailagic added 12. Carsen Edwards was held to just 9 points.
