Unics erases 11-point deficit to win in Kaunas 38
Unics Kazan produced a big, late comeback to claim a vital 80:88 road win at Zalgiris Kaunas and tie the Lithuanian champs with a 5-9 record.
The visitors trailed by 11 points with just 10 minutes remaining, but the potent combination of Keith Langford and Art Parakhouski, who finished with 26 and 24 points respectively, inspired a huge fourth-quarter performance from Unics to surge to victory. There were also big contributions from Quino Colom with 15 points and 8 assists, while Kostas Kaimakoglou added 13 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds.
Zalgiris was paced by Paulius Jankunas with 21 points, with fellow big men Antanas Kavaliuaskas and Brock Motum adding 14 and 11 points, respectively.
Parakhouski scored the first 4 points, and soon combined with Colom to add to the lead before Langford got in on the act to give Unics an early double-digit advantage. Zalgiris responded and Motum nailed a triple to end the first quarter at 19:23.
Unics started the second quarter with a 0:5 run, but then it was all about Jankunas, who scored 9 points in an 11:0 tear to give Zalgiris its first lead. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first half as Langford kept the visitors close, but Kevin Pangos netted a quick pair of triples to give Zalgiris a 46:43 halftime advantage.
Jankunas added 6 more points after the break and the hosts extended the lead to double figures with a triple from Lukas Lekavicius – 69:58.
But then came the Unics fightback. Kaimakoglou scored the first 5 points of the final quarter, Parakhouski soon added 4 and Orlando Johnson’s triple sent the visitors ahead, before Langford scored 7 points in the final three minutes to secure the 80:88 win.
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