Zalgiris Kaunas took its league-best three-point shooting to the home of the defending EuroLeague champions and captured a resounding 92-82 win over Fenerbahce on Friday night.
Zalgiris improved to a 20-14 record while first-place Fenerbahce dropped to 23-11 and was denied the chance to mathematically clinch a postseason berth.
Fenerbahçe jumped ahead behind 8 early points from Bonzie Colson, 4-14. Azuolas Tubelis and Arnas Butkevicius kept the hosts within reach, and a late shooting burst, including two threes from Butkevicius, cut the deficit to 22–25.
Laurynas Birutis, Tubelis, Sylvain Francisco, and Moses Wright got on the scoreboard before a trio of threes from Francisco, Dustin Sleva, and Nigel Williams-Goss pushed the advantage to 43-37. Sleva closed the half with baskets inside and from deep, making it 49-44.
Wright and Butkevicius extended the lead to 10, but Fenerbahçe answered with a quick 6-point run from Talen Horton-Tucker. Zalgiris responded through Sleva and Williams-Goss, while Birutis and Francisco added key baskets to stay ahead 66-58. The hosts trimmed the gap to 66–62 entering the fourth.
Wright’s free throws were followed by a Fenerbahce push that flipped the score to 68-70. Sleva and Tubelis made dunks, and Butkevicius added free throws as Zalgiris regained control. Francisco and Williams-Goss hit big threes, Wright scored on a put‑back, and Sleva’s fourth three sealed the 92-82 victory.
The visitors were paced by Sleva, who had 18 points on 4-of-7 three-point shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Francisco netted 14 points with 8 assists, while Butkevicius, Tubelis and Williams-Goss scored 13 apiece.
In a losing effort, Wade Baldwin had 19 points and Horton-Tucker finished with 18.
