Zalgiris holds on for the win over Virtus

With Toko Shengelia returning to action and Will Clyburn still missing, Virtus Segafredo Bologna put on a fight but Zalgiris prevailed

By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net

Zalgiris Kaunas had to defend their home court and did exactly that against Virtus.

When all was said and done, the Lithuanian team got the 77-68 win taking one more step towards the postseason, and returned to wins after four straight defeats.

Zalgiris now has an 11-10 record and the 11th spot in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, while Virtus at 6-15 has mainly mathematical hopes to make it.

Sylvain Fransisco, who scored 20 points, and Edgaras Ulanovas, who scored 16, were the top scorers of Zalgiris.

“The most important thing in the fourth quarter is to make some stops”, said Fransisco who also contributed a very crucial block

On the other side, Isaia Cordinier had 18 points for Virtus and Toko Shengelia added 12 in his return to action after his injury. Most importantly, Zalgiris finished the game with 15/35 threes and Virtus had just 4/23.

Zalgiris holding on

Zalgiris Kaunas had an electric start in the game, leading 25-13 after the first period and 31-13 in the second after back-to-back threes by Lonny Walker.

In total the hosts opened the game with 8/10 threes. However, they completed the first half with eight straight misses (8/18) and after the initial shock, Virtus entered the game trimming the lead to 41-32 at halftime after two free throws by Isaia Cordinier.

Virtus made it even a seven-point game (46-39) in the third period, however, Zalgiris kept their distance and closed the quarter leading by 10 (61-51).

The Italians didn’t give up and with five unanswered points closed the gap to five (61-56) to start the last period. Fransisco reacted with his fifth three of the night (64-56) but Bologna continued the push and made it a four-point game (64-60) with five minutes left.

Entering the last two minutes, Fransisco blocked Mat Morgan and scored on the other side to extend Zalgiris’ lead to six (72-66) with the home side keeping their distance until the end.

Photo credit: EuroLeague