Sound long-range shooting saw Zalgiris Kaunas overpower Valencia Basket 86-77 in the EuroLeague Round 9 at Zalgirio Arena. The Lithuanian side improved to 7-2 with a fourth straight win, while the Spanish outfit dropped to 5-4 after a titanic tussle in Kaunas.
Sylvain Francisco paced Zalgiris on 15 points and 7 assists, Maodo Lo chipped in with 12 points while Moses Wright, and Azoulas Tubelis netted 11 each for the home side.
Jaime Pradilla and Jean Montero led Valencia with 15 points apiece, Kameron Taylor scored 14 and Omari Moore added 11 for the visitors.
In a fast-paced and physical start, both teams gave as good as they got in a hectic first quarter with Zalgiris nosing ahead 18-17 after the opening 10 minutes as Dustin Sleva netted a sweet three-pointer at the buzzer to send a passionate home crowd into raptures.
Roared on by the green-clad faithful in the stands, Zalgiris moved up a gear and surged 35-26 ahead on the back of lethal long-range shooting. Valencia fought hard to stay in touch and slashed its deficit to 38-25 by halftime, thanks to a four-point play from Montero.
The third quarter produced more tough basketball, as both sides found it difficult to score in the wake of aggressive defending. The lead changed hands several times before Lo sank a buzzer-beating triple to give the hosts a 61-58 lead ahead of the final 10 minutes.
Galvanized by a Moses Wright block on Omari Moore, Zalgiris pulled away to 67-60 early in the fourth and although Valencia fought tooth-and-nail to catch up, Lo put the game beyond the Spanish team’s reach when he drained a clutch triple with 44 seconds left on the clock
