Zalgiris Kaunas suffered a defeat in the second round of the EuroLeague. Andrea Trinchieri’s team lost 68-74 (6-21, 18-14, 19-17, 25-22) to Olympiacos Piraeus on the road.

Olympiacos started with a suffocating defense, forcing three turnovers in less than the first 80 seconds, and Zalgiris already turned the ball over five times in less than five minutes. The Reds struggled offensively themselves in the early going, opening an 8-2 lead on a fast-break layup by Sasha Vezenkov. Ignas Brazdeikis and Edgaras Ulanovas kept the visitors in it, but Olympiacos kept its defense at a high level while running and scoring more in transition, including a buzzer-beating triple by Kostas Papanikolaou that made it 6-21 after 10 minutes.

Zalgiris’ offensive struggles continued early in the second quarter, too, as the margin grew to 17 points. But Lukas Lekavicius hit a three-pointer to end Zalgiris’ drought with 6:30 left in the half, then Alen Smailagic gave the visitors life with a three-pointer before taking it to the rim and cutting the margin to 15-27. But Olympiacos scored the next seven points, a run capped by a three-point play from Nigel Williams-Goss that made it 15-33. Sylvain Francisco answered with a three-point play of his own, and the visitors continued battling and crashing the offensive glass, which is what kept them in the game. The score at halftime was 24-35.

Evan Fournier and Dovydas Giedraitis traded triples to start the second half, then the same two players traded driving layups. Vezenkov’s baskets, and another bucket from Evan Fournier helped open a 33-47 score, but Zalgiris was not going away. Arnas Butkevicius sparked a run, which also saw Deividas Sirvydis score on a fast-break to cut the margin to 41-48, yet Moustapha Fall and Fournier made sure the Reds take 43-52 into the final quarter.

Francisco hit from long range to make it 46-52 at the start of the fourth, but Vildoza and Papanikolaou each hit a wide-open triple from the right corner to restore a double-digit margin, 48-58. Alec Peters scored a layup and Filip Petrusev got to the free-throw line, but Sirvydis nailed three three-pointers and cut the deficit to 59-64 with 3:00 to go. A three from Francisco made it 65-67 with 1:24 left, but Vezenkov made a tough short jumper while drawing a foul. After he missed a free throw, Kostas Papanikolaou fought against Butkevicius and Sirvydis, drawing two more foul shots to give the hosts breathing room entering the final minute. The Reds held on, securing their first win of the season.

Vezenkov finished with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double, and Fournier had 15 points and 5 rebounds in the victory.

Sirvydis netted 17 points, while Francisco had 13 in defeat.