Zalgiris Kaunas was ahead for most of the game, but allowed the victory to slip away at the start of the Gloria Cup tournament in Turkey. Zalgiris lost to Tofas Bursa 74-75 (17-16, 25-16, 18-22, 14-21) on Wednesday.
After the opponents scored the first 4 points, Deividas Sirvydis went for 2+1 and Matt Mitchell made free throws after a steal to put Zalgiris ahead 5-4. Dovydas Giedraitis made assists to Laurynas Birutis and Brady Manek, while Manek’s and Sylvain Francisco’s three-pointers gave Zalgiris a slight edge, 15-11. Ignas Brazdeikis hit a long-two in the remaining time of the first quarter and Tofas finished the quarter with 5 points, 17-16.
At the beginning of the second quarter, Manek made 2 more three-pointers, and Sirvydis added a long-range shot as well, 27-19. Zalgiris took advantage of their opponents’ foul limit, as Sirvydis, Alen Smailagic, Giedraitis and Birutis scored from the free-throw line, 33-30. Zalgiris finished the second period with 3 long-range shots by Edgaras Ulanovas, Manek and Brazdeikis, 42-32.
Bryant Dunston made a free throw and Brazdeikis hit a three-pointer to increase the lead to 14 points (46-32). Tofas quickly scored 10 points in a row, until Ulanovas had a 2+1 and Brazdeikis added a long-range shot, 52-42. Lukas Lekavicius also scored a three-pointer, Dunston flexed his muscles under the basket, Birutis and Smailagic made free throws, but the third quarter was ended by the opponents with a three-pointer from the own half of the court, 60-54.
Birutis scored from under the basket, Francisco and Giedraitis made great passes to Manek, who made his long-range shots, and then Francisco scored 4 points, 72-62. Just when it seemed that the fate of the game was clear, Zalgiris started to stagnate on offense and let in 11 unanswered points, 72-73. Giedraitis had put Zalgiris ahead, but with 3 seconds to play, the opponents scored and Francisco’s last shot missed the target.
Manek made 6 three-pointers and led with 20 points. Brazdeikis scored 11 points, while Francisco and Btrazdeikis added 7 points each.
