Zalgiris cruises past Baskonia 10

Zalgiris Kaunas displayed one of their better games in the EuroLeague regular season with an impressive 94-76 home win over Baskonia Vitoria, thanks to masterclass performances from Keenan Evans and Kevarrius Hayes.

Evans paced the home team with 20 points and 4 assists while Hayes racked up 17 points and 7 rebounds as Zalgiris dominated the paint, having collected 38 boards in total of which 15 were on the offensive end. Edgaras Ulanovas amassed 11 points and 7 rebounds while Arnas Butkevicius added 10 points for the hosts.

At the other end, Codi Miller-McIntyre led Baskonia with 16 points, Markus Howard netted 14 while Vanja Marinkovic and Chima Moneke scored 12 each. Matt Costello totaled 11 points and 6 boards, but the visitors were undone by dreadful three-point shooting as they sank only 4 of 22 from downtown.

Baskonia took an early 9-15 lead but that was as good as it got for the Basque outfit, as Zalgiris turned on the heat and engineered a 16-2 run which turned the tide for good. The home team’s lead soared to 48-34 at halftime, with Howard scoreless and Baskonia shooting 0-of-8 from behind the arc in the wake of ironclad defense from Zalgiris, roared on by the fervent home faithful.

A 4-12 run early in the second half allowed Baskonia to slash the deficit to 52-46, but Zalgiris quickly moved two gears up and restored its 14-point lead by the end of the third quarter. The fourth produced more one-way traffic and Zalgiris ran out a worthy winner, much to the delight of a boisterous home crowd.