Ulanovas leads Zalgiris to road win in Tel Aviv 11
Zalgiris Kaunas bounced back from a home loss by topping Maccabi Tel Aviv 93:77 on the road at Menorah Mivtachim Arena on Thursday.
Zalgiris improved to 13-15, but despite its win was mathematically eliminated from the playoffs race earlier in the evening when Anadolue Efes Istanbul won. Maccabi dropped to 10-18.
Edgaras Ulanovas led the winners with 20 points, Kevin Pangos added 15 points, Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 14, Paulius Jankunas 12, Brock Motum 10 and Leo Westermann delivered 8 assists for Zalgiris.
Victor Rudd paced Maccabi with 16 points on 4-of-6 three-point shooting, Sylven Landesberg added 11 points and Diamon Simpson and Devin Smith each scored 10 for the hosts.
Zalgiris used a late 10:0 run to take a 44:33 halftime advantage. Maccabi made 14 of 24 three-point shots (58.3%) but Zalgiris dominated in the paint, making 31-of-48 shots inside the arc (64.6%). Zalgiris dished 23 assists and committed only 9 turnovers in one of the biggest keys to its win.
Jankunas got Zalgiris going with a jumper. Joe Alexander and Pangos exchanged three-pointers and a jump hook by Ulanovas gave the visitors a 7:3 edge. Smith and Rudd combined for 7 points in an 11:2 run as Maccabi regained the lead, 14:9. Lukas Lekavicius hit a one-handed floater, Motum added a layup and Kavaliauskas followed a dunk with a close basket for a 17:14 Zalgiris lead after 10 minutes.
Simpson followed a tip-in with a jumper early in the second quarter and a three-pointer by Landesberg ignited the crowd at 21:19. Lekavicius hit a stop-and-pop jumper and Ulanovas added a triple, but Guy Pnini struck twice from downtown for a 27:24 Maccabi lead. Renaldas Seibutis scored in penetration and got help from Motum and Pangos for Zalgiris to regain the lead at 32:29. Iverson scored down low, but Pangos and Ulanovas combined for all the points in a 0-10 run that made it a double-digit game, 44:33, at halftime.
Pangos hit a triple right after the break, but so did Rudd and Smith to keep Maccabi within 10. Kavaliauskas scored down low and a jumper by Westermann made it 54:41. Simpson dunked, Rudd hit back-to-back three-pointers and Landesberg also hit one from beyond the arc to prompt Zalgiris to stop the game at 59:52. Seibutis and Pangos fueled a 7:0 Zalgiris run, but Pnini and Smith kept Maccabi within 58:68. A buzzer-beating triple by Ulanovas fixed the score at 71:58 after 30 minutes.
Kavaliauskas scored twice in the low post and Ulanovas copied him to keep Zalgiris fully in charge, 77:62. Mekel and Landesberg buried consecutive three-pointers and a power layup by Simpson gave Maccabi hope at 73”79. However Jankunas scored down low and Ulanovas followed a put-back layup with a floater to seal the outcome at 85:75 with over two minutes left.
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