Zalgiris grabs first win in Top-16 0

Zalgiris got over a slow start and snatched a 75-63 victory against Unicaja at home in Kaunas on Friday evening to open the victory count in the Top-16 stage of Euroleague.

The win allowed the Lithuanian side to improve to a 1-1 record, while it was the first loss for the visitors from Malaga, who are also 1-1 in Group E.

Although the home side did take an early 15-8 lead, it didn’t take long for Unicaja to catch-up, with neither side demonstrating quality basketball.

With three minutes left in the first half, Unicaja tied the game up at 30-30, but Zalgiris finished the quarter with a pair of baskets to restore a four-point lead.

The second half began promisingly, as Oliver Lafayette and Marko Popovic scored a three-pointer each to extend the advantage to eight points at 40-32.

However, the Spaniards came back using a 10-1 run and took the lead for the first time in the game at 42-41 after a long-range shot by Kurnoslav Simon.

Unicaja did not manage to hold on to the lead for long, as Zalgiris raced back ahead by a couple of baskets.

A great sequence of possessions by Mindaugas Kuzminskas allowed the home side to get a more comfortable lead at 65-55, which proved too big for Unicaja to overcome.