Zalgiris crushes Gran Canaria at home 19

Zalgiris Kaunas led from start to finish en route to a huge 98-64 win over visiting Herbalife Gran Canaria on Thursday night at the Zalgirio Arena.

With the win, Zalgiris improved its record to 10-15 record, two wins behind eighth place in the standings. Gran Canaria lost its 10th consecutive game and dropped to 6-19 for the season.

Zalgiris used a 22-3 run bridging the first and second quarters to open a 26-point lead and never looked back. The hosts had five players in double figures, with Edgaras Ulanovas leading the way with 18 points. Thomas Walkup added 12, while Deon Thompson collected 11 points plus 7 rebounds.

Marcus Eriksson netted 13 and Jacob Wiley had 10 points in defeat.

Zalgiris stormed out of the gate, repeatedly going inside. Two dunks from Brandon Davies and a pair of slams from Aaron White opened a 13-5 lead. A three from Xavi Rabaseda and a tip-in from Ondrej Balvin were rare Gran Canaria highlights in the early going, Thompson scored 6 points in an 8-0 run to end the first half with a 25-10 lead.

Arturas Milaknis opened the second quarter with a triple as the lead swelled to 30-10. Eriksson’s three-pointer snapped a 13-0 run, but Ulanovas knocked down a corner three to start a 9-0 run and his dunk made it 39-13 midway through the second quarter. Siim-Sander Vene hit from long range for the visitors, Nikola Radicevic went coast-to-coast and Eriksson hit from way downtown to make it 46-27 at halftime.

Leo Westermann hit back-to-back threes at the start of the third and Ulanovas netted one of his own. Two baskets from Davies, including a fastbreak dunk, extend the margin to 63-30. Clevin Hannah’s triple snapped a 14-0 run and the same player scored 6 more points, but a triple apiece from Marius Grigonis, Ulanovas and Walkup extended the margin to 77-43 in the final minute of the third quarter.

The hosts did not stop there, as layups from Erikas Venskus and Thompson made it 89-48 – a 41-point margin! – before Wiley and Eriksson cut into the final difference.