Zalgiris goes OT, gets road win at Panathinaikos 20

Zalgiris Kaunas needed overtime in a hard-fought game to down Panathinaikos Athens 83-87 and register its first EuroLeague road win against Panathinaikos this century.

Zalgiris led by 17 points in the second quarter, but Nick Calathes led the hosts’ rally. Zalgiris needed a tip-in from Brandon Davies to send the game into overtime, where Thomas Walkup, Davies and Edgaras Ulanovas came up with big baskets to secure Zalgiris a valuable victory.

Both teams now hold 2-2 record, as Davies finished the game with 18 points, and rookie Walkup added season-high 14 in victory. Calathes scored 22 points in a losing effort.

Zalgiris took control early, as Davies, Paulius Jankunas and Walkup fueled visitors to a 4-10 lead. Langford had 5 points for Panathinaikos, including a triple, but Davies and White extended the margin to double digits before Nikos Pappas ended the opening quarter with a triple, making it 13-20.

Early in the second, Leo Westermann hit a corner three-pointer and White had a monster dunk-plus-foul to extend Zalgiris advantage to 17-32. Derrick Walton’s jumper increased the margin to 17 points, before a triple from James Gist and a layup-plus-foul from Calathes got the hosts’ deficit into single digits, 32-41. However, Nate Wolters nailed a second-chance triple that helped Zalgiris to 33-44 halftime lead.

Teams traded baskets in the third quarter, but then Panathinaikos started pulling closer, helped by a fastbreak dunk by Gist, a jumper by Langford against Zalgiris zone defense, got the hosts within 49-53. Walton’s triple helped Zalgiris take 51-58 into the final quarter, but Calathes scored 6 points to open the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer, as Panathinaikos cut it to 57-58.

A three-pointer from Ioannis Papapetrou with 4:08 to go in regulation gave the hosts their first lead since the opening minute. A runner-plus-foul from Wolters restored Zalgiris advantage, only for Panathinaikos to put together an 8-1 run capped by a second-chance triple from Calathes to make it 74-70. However, the visitors found a way to rally, and Davies made a hard-fought tip-in with 6 seconds to go in the regulation to send the game into overtime.

In the extra session, Zalgiris never trailed again, with Walkup scoring the first 4 points, before Davies scored inside after Wolters pass and Ulanovas scored a key put-back to make it 80-86. Calathes answered with a triple, but Zalgiris prevailed.