Zalgiris edges Milan for first win at home 22

Zalgiris Kaunas finally pulled out a close game at home to register its first win at the packed Zalgirio Arena this season by edging visiting AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 83-78 on Thursday night.

Led by big man Brandon Davies, Zalgiris snapped its three-game losing streak and moved to 4-6 for the season, while Milan dropped to 6-4.

Davies scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists. Nate Wolters also shined with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

Mike James scored 17 points to go with 7 assists for Milan, while Arturas Gudaitis collected 16 points and 7 rebounds against his former team.

In the early going, Jeff Brooks and James had a three-pointer each for Milan, but Davies and Wolters had two close-range baskets apiece before a three-point play from Marius Grigonis made it 13-11. Milan answered through Andrea Cinciarini and Gudaitis in using a 2-10 run bridging first and second quarter to take an 18-25 lead.

Mindaugas Kuzminskas drove for a reverse dunk that made it 22-29, but Edgaras Ulanovas, Davies and Aaron White fueled a big run for the hosts, who scored 18 consecutive points. The hosts went into the break up 40-31.

Gudaitis scored repeatedly in the third quarter to get the visitors within 6 before back-to-back triples from Dairis Bertans got Milan all the way back, 53-52. Davies gave the hosts some breathing room with 5 consecutive points, but Kuzminskas hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the third to make it 60-58 after 30 minutes.

Zalgiris extended the margin again with the play of Antanas Kavaliauskas inside and Milaknis knocking down one from outside for a 69-61 cushion. Kuzminskas had a three-pointer and a dunk in a 0-7 run as the visitors were back within a single point. But Zalgiris never relinquished the lead. Wolters and Ulanovas made it 73-68 and after a pair of baskets from Micov that kept the visitors close, Wolters and Davies scored in the final 40 seconds to seal the deal.