Zalgiris finishes the EuroLeague season with a big support from the fans 29
Zalgiris Kaunas received amazing support from the packed Zalgirio Arena, but couldn’t withstand an offensive assault 82-99 from Fenerbahce Istanbul, which clinched the EuroLeague Quarterfinals series 3-1.
Fenerbahce Istanbul became the second team to advance into the Final Four with a record-breaking 82-99 road victory at Zalgiris Kaunas, clinching the series 3-1.
Ali Muhammed shone with 25 points on 9-of-10 field goal shooting, plus 4 assists and 3 steals. Fellow point guard Kostas Sloukas also excelled with a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists, while Jan Vesely scored 12 points and Marko Guduric and Erick Green both netted 11.
Brandon Davies led Zalgiris with 25 points and 7 rebounds, and Nate Wolters registered 18 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Muhammed, Gigi Datome and Guduric gave Fener an early 0-7 burst, before Leo Westermann got Zalgiris moving from long range. Muhammed added a triple and a driving lay-up, and back-to-back baskets from Nicolo Melli made it a double-digit game. Sloukas converted a three-pointer and Vesely’s jumper extended the lead. Datome and Muhammed netted again from deep for a 10-27 edge, before a series of Zalgiris free throws and a buzzer-beating put-back from Deon Thompson made it 16-30 after the first quarter.
Davies scored twice down low early in the second quarter, and Aaron White’s triple reduced the deficit to single digits at 25-34. Two quick baskets from Wolters maintained Zalgiris’s momentum, but Melih Mahmutoglu’s corner triple and three free throws reignited Fenerbahce. Arturas Milaknis answered with two strikes from deep, Davies dunked over Vesely, and a triple from Wolters made it 41-49 at the interval.
Muhammed sank another three-pointer to start the second half, but Zalgiris responded with a 7-0 run including a big alley-oop from White. Muhammed struck from deep yet again, then added a coast-to-coast lay-up, and Vesely’s three-point play made it 48-60. Thomas Walkup, Davies and Edgaras Ulanovas responded down low, but Melli’s jumper kept the lead in double-digits, before Green entered the game to bury a triple and Sloukas did likewise for a 61-72 lead at the end of the third.
Davies’s three-point play pulled Zalgiris closer, but Ahmet Duverioglu scored twice and back-to-back threes from Guduric extended the gap to 64-84 to cap a 0-12 run. That took the life out of Zalgiris’s challenge, despite another burst of scoring from Wolters and Davies, and Fenerbahce cruised the rest of the way.
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