Zalgiris Kaunas got back on track by downing the visiting Hapoel Tel Aviv 93-82 in the EuroLeague Round 28 matchup at a packed Zalgirio Arena on Friday.
Kaunas’ team improved to a 16-12 record going into a domestic cups break, and it completed a regular-season sweep of Hapoel, which lost its fifth straight game and dropped to 16-11 on the season.
Zalgiris threatened to take control early in the second quarter after back-to-back triples from Ignas Brazdeikis and Sylvain Francisco, but Johnathan Motley responded with consecutive threes of his own, sparking an 11-0 Hapoel run capped by Elijah Bryant’s nine-meter buzzer-beater that gave the visitors their first lead, 32-34.
The game went back and forth until early in the fourth quarter, with neither team fully taking control. Hapoel did go up 46-52 in the third, but Zalgiris quickly erased the deficit. The visitors’ last lead was 63-64 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, but the hosts used a 10-2 run to take the lead for good, soon after opening their first double-digit lead of the night, 78-68. They never allowed Hapoel to get closer than 7 points the rest of the way.
Moses Wright scored a career-high 25 points and carried Zalgiris the entire night, while Francisco hit a pair of key three-pointers in the fourth and finished with 15 points. Maodo Lo had 13 points and 7 assists, while Azuolas Tubelis finished with 12 in the win.
Dan Oturu scored 22 points for Hapoel, Bryant had 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Vasilije Micic netted 16 points in defeat.

