Zalgiris sinks Efes for first win this season 21

Zalgiris Kaunas picked up its first win of the new Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season, and did so on the road by holding off Anadolu Efes Istanbul 79-93 on Wednesday night at Sinan Erdem Dome. Both teams now have 1-1 records.

Brandon Davies led the winners with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists, while Leo Westermann had 17 points for Zalgiris. Krunoslav Simon scored 13 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter for Efes.

Zalgiris was the team making the first little run of the night, 0-6 sparked by Thomas Walkup. Westermann hit a three-pointer that put Zalgiris up 11-15, but Vasilije Micic answered with a triple and Dogus Balbay hit one from the left corner to make it 19-19 after 10 minutes.

Balbay hit another triple at the start of the second, but Laurynas Birutis had a three-point play and Marius Grigonis nailed a three-pointer to open a 24-29 margin. Neither team could get into a rhythm, with players often going to the free throw line, before Westermann hit a corner three, sparking a 2-13 run that gave Zalgiris a 32-46 halftime advantage.

The visitors continued where they left off in the third, as Paulius Jankunas hit a triple and Nate Wolters and Davies scored close range baskets to make it 36-55. Efes stopped the bleeding, but could not cut into the deficit, and Jankunas hit two more jumpers to help increase the margin to 44-67 late in the third.

Zalgiris took a 20-point lead into the final quarter, but Efes got hope with aggressive full-court pressure and Simon getting hot. Arturas Milaknis and Aaron White each hit a three-pointer to keep the hosts at bay, 67-81. Efes continued making shots, including a three and a floater from Simon that got the home team within 74-82 with 90 seconds to go, but Westermann drove for a layup to seal the outcome.