Zalgiris comes from behind to overcome Darussafaka 26

Zalgiris Kaunas showed that persistence pays off by mounting a fourth quarter comeback over Darussafaka Istanbul to claim a 75-71 road victory.

The home side led nearly all the way but Zalgiris was at its best when it mattered the most, going ahead for good through Leo Westermann’s three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining. Zalgiris gave a big boost to its playoffs push by improving to 6-7, but last-placed Darussafaka drops to 1-12.

Brandon Davies led the Lithuanian champ with 17 points, Westermann added 12 while Aaron White and Marius Grigonis both scored 10 for Zalgiris, which scored more than a third of its total points (28) from the free throw line.

Ray McCallum paced Darussafaka with 17 points including 4 three-pointers.

Michael Eric started the scoring with a layup before Davies made a three-point play for an early Zalgiris lead. But then Markel Brown made a pair of three-pointers and Darussafaka started to take charge at the end of the first through baskets from Eric and Toney Douglas. Dogus Ozdemiroglu made a rare steal from the inbound pass to score at the start of the second quarter and a lay-up from Oguz Savas made it 23-15.

Davies brought Zalgiris back with 6 straight points, and Edgaras Ulanovas made free throws to complete a 3-12 run for a 26-27 lead. Several lead changes followed before the hosts finished the first half strong through Jon Diebler, who scored 9 quick points including a pair of triples for a 39-33 half-time lead.

McCallum struck two triples and Diebler added another for a 48-40 lead midway through the third, with only a pair of baskets from Davies keeping Zalgiris afloat. Grigonis hit from deep but Diebler fed Eric for a big slam, and it was 53-49 after three quarters.

Thomas Walkup took over early in the fourth, scoring 6 points including a brutal slam to send Zalgiris ahead. But the hosts responded as Jeremy Evans scored twice in a row and Brown struck from deep for a 66-61 lead. McCallum and White traded both triples and two-pointers to make it 71-70 inside the final minute, before Westermann sent Zalgiris ahead from beyond the arc with 26 seconds left and then made free throws to seal the deal.