Pangos and Zalgiris stun champs in Istanbul 45

Zalgiris Kaunas edged reigning champion Fenerbahce Istanbul 89-90 on the road on Thursday in a thriller that came down to the final buzzer. Paulius Jankunas score the go-ahead free throws with 40 seconds left, Aaron White came up with a key block at the other end and Arturas Milaknis all but sealed the win with a late triple as Zalgiris improved to 7-5 with its fourth road win of the season.

Kevin Pangos produced a career-high 22 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting plus 7 assists to lead the winners. Axel Toupane added 16 points and 7 rebounds, Paulius Jankunas scored 14 and Brandon Davies had 14 on perfect shooting before fouling out.

The result ended Fenerbahce’s four-game winning streak and dropped its record to 8-4. Jan Vesely paced the champs with 20 points, Brad Wanamaker tallied 19 points and 4 steals, Nicolo Melli added 13 and Kostas Sloukas 11.

Toupane buried a long jumper, a layup in transition and a triple before assisting Jankunas on a jumper as Zalgiris jumped out to a 5-11 start. Fenerbahce turned things around by drawing fouls – including 3 by Antanas Kavaliauskas, making free throws and collecting steals. Vesely netted 5 free throws in a 16-2 run that Sloukas capped with a three-pointer to put the hosts in control. Wanamaker’s second three of the game set up a double-digit Fenerbahce advantage, but Pangos’s layup ended the first quarter at 24-16.

Pangos connected from downtown at the start of the second quarter and White helped get Zalgiris within 3. Pangos remained active with a reverse layup to make it 29-27. James Nunnally drained an open three from the corner to push Fenerbahce’s lead up to 40-34. Pangos penetrated twice for layups and then pulled up for a three that gave the visitors the lead. Wanamaker responded to leave Fenerbahce with a 42-41 halftime edge.

Davies scored three times in the first three minutes of the second half as Zalgiris tied the score. Fenerbahce could not stop the red-hot Davies, but was able to answer him each time to keep it tied, 51-51, midway through the third quarter. Jankunas’s put-back-plus-foul put the visitors ahead 55-58, but Melli heated up and Wanamaker’s steal and slam nosed the hosts back ahead 64-63 through three quarters.

Zalgiris tied it once more on a three by White and took a 68-71 lead on a three by Milaknis. The Zalgiris sniper extended the lead to 5 with another three, but Fenerbahce was back on even footing, 75-75, following a second triple by Nunnally with less than five minutes to play. Nunnally put Fenerbahce back ahead with a free throw and, after a pair of lead changes, Wanamaker hit from behind the arc for an 81-77 advantage. Pangos hit a pair of big threes before Jankunas tied the score at 85-85 with a tough layup inside the final minute. An unsportsmanlike foul by Wanamaker on Jankunas with 40 seconds left allowed the latter to put Zalgiris ahead with free throws. White came through with a critical block and Milaknis buried a triple that all but iced the win.