Zalgiris Kaunas (11-2) ended the year 2024 with a strong victory in the Betsafe-LKL. Andrea Trinchieri’s team defeated Uniclub Bet - Juventus Utena (6-7) by 128-67 (29-11, 33-17, 34-19, 32-20) on the road.
Sylvain Francisco opened the game with a three-pointer and a block, Matt Mitchell scored 4 points, Francisco dished out assists to Bryant Dunston and Brady Manek, 11-7. Francisco continued his great stretch by scoring 3 more points and assisting Laurynas Birutis twice, 18-7. At the end of the first quarter Dovydas Giedraitis broke through under the basket with a foul, and Arnas Butkevicius and Birutis added 4 points each, 29-11.
Francisco continued his show at the beginning of the second period, as he assisted Butkevicius, scored 7 points himself, stole the ball and passed it to Mitchell, who scored with a foul, 41-17. Deividas Sirvydis then scored 5 points, Lonnie Walker IV and Lukas Lekavicius hit a three-pointer each, and Walker IV lobbed the ball up for Birutis’ dunk, 54-23. Lekavicius added a layup with a foul and Ignas Brazdeikis finished the quarter with 5 consecutive points, 62-28.
Francisco started the third period with a steal and a pass to Mitchell, who also hit 2 three-pointers and assisted Manek’s long-range shot and Birutis’ layup, 77-39. Manek scored 5 more points, Birutis and Alen Smailagic made putbacks, Lekavicius hit 3 three-pointers in a row, and Giedraitis added a free throw, 96-47.
Birutis posted up his opponent, Walker IV scored 10 points in 4 minutes, 114-52. Birutis dunked it home and Lekavicius, Smailagic, Mitchell and again Lekavicius made three-pointers to close the game, 128-67.
Lekavicius led the scorers with 23 points, but the MVP of the game honors belonged to Francisco, who not only scored 19 points, but also dished 9 assists to gather 39 efficiency ranking. Birutis added 18 points, while Walker IV collected 16 points.
