Zalgiris falls apart in loss to Astana 0
Coming into the new season with high goals, Zalgiris Kaunas had to acknowledge the first defeat already in their fourth game of the new campaign, as the Lithuanian League (LKL) champions fell short against Astana in the VTB United League on the road.
The newly formed club from the Kazakhstani capital caused a massive upset by getting the better of the Lithuanian side in a game that ended 86-78 (11-15, 24-23, 23-24, 28-16) after a big scoring outburst by the Astana club in the fourth quarter.
Despite leading for most of the way, Zalgiris collapsed in the fourth quarter, when Astana went on a 9-0 scoring run to blow past the team from Kaunas, who couldn’t cope defensively the Kazakhstani team.
Most of the damage was done by the six foreigners on Astana’s roster, as the players from abroad collected 73 of 86 points for the home team.
Branko Cvetkovic led the side from Kazakhstan in scoring with 18 points, Rawle Marshall had 16, while point guard Jerry Johnson contributed with 14 points and seven assists.
Paulius Jankunas, the captain of Zalgiris, had a game-high 19 points, but it wasn’t enough to save the Lithuanians from defeat.
Ty Lawson had his first good game for the Kaunas side scoring 13 points, as Mantas Kalnietis, who started alongside Lawson, chipped in with 11 points and Robertas Javtokas finished the game with a decent 10 points and eight rebounds.
Zalgiris are now 1-1 in the VTB United League, as they had won the first game against Kalev Tallinn 84-70.
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