Zalgiris gets upset by CSKA in overtime 40
Mike James drilled a game-winning three-pointer on the overtime buzzer to lift CSKA Moscow over Zalgiris Kaunas 85-82 in the Russian capital on Thursday. CSKA improved to 8-4 in the standings while Zalgiris dropped to 3-9.
James finished with 19 points, Janis Strelnieks added 18, Ron Baker scored 13, Joel Bolomboy 12 and Daniel Hackett had 11 for CSKA.
Thomas Walkup led Zalgiris with 19 points, Lukas Lekavicius tallied 15, Jock Landale 12 and Zach LeDay 11. Landale added 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Strelnieks got CSKA going with a driving layup which LeDay quickly erased with a turnaround jumper. Hackett stepped up for CSKA only to see Walkup score twice in penetration. LeDay added a couple of jump hooks and Martinas Geben dunked in a 0-15 run that gave Zalgiris a double-digit lead, 6-17. Andrey Vorontsevich stepped up with a corner jumper and Bolomboy brought CSKA a bit closer, 9-17, after 10 minutes.
James and Darrun Hilliard rescued the hosts early in the second quarter, but Landale followed a layup with a jump hook to keep Zalgiris in charge, 15-21. Nigel Hayes took over with a second-chance basket, which Walkup followed with a driving layup that caused CSKA to stop the game at 15-25. Landale capped an 0-8 run with a fastbreak layup. Strelnieks bettered that with a three-point play. Hines dunked and got help from Strelnieks and Baker to bring CSKA within 25-29. Strelnieks kept pushing the hosts with layups and Baker struck from downtown – CSKA’s first three-pointer of the game – to give his team a 32-31 lead at halftime.
Edgaras Ulanovas banked in a running shot soon after the break, but Hines matched it with a big slam and Strelnieks added a jumper for a 36-33 CSKA edge. Landale and Bolomboy exchanged dunks in traffic and then Strelnieks and Baker each buried a three-pointer to boost the hosts’ lead to 44-37. Lekavicius followed a floater with a jumper and then found Milaknis for a triple that drew Zalgiris within 46-44. Nikita Kurbanov answered from beyond the arc, but Geben and a red-hot Milaknis brought the visitors even closer, 51-50, after 30 minutes.
Bolomboy ignited the crowd early in the fourth quarter with an alley-oop dunk and a three-pointer. Baker added a reverse layup for a 58-52 CSKA lead with over 6 minutes left in regulation. Walkup took over with back-to-back triples, but Hackett also struck twice from beyond the arc for a 64-60 score. Lekavicius followed free throws with a jumper that tied it again, 64-64, with 2:31 to go. Baker and Walkup traded three-pointers before James restored a narrow CSKA lead with a minute left in regulation. Lekavicius buried his trademark floater to even things at 69-69 and CSKA got the ball back with 14.3 seconds remaining. James missed a five-meter shot at the end of regulation.
Hines dunked early in overtime and Bolomboy added a baseline jumper for a 73-71 CSKA lead. Nigel Hayes banked in a three-pointer, but Strelnieks answered with a layup to give the hosts the lead in the next-to-last minute. Landale hit free throws and Lekavicius added a jumper, but an outstanding James followed a driving layup with a three-point play for an 80-78 edge. After LeDay hit free throws, James hit a jumper that bounced three times around the rim and went in with 12.4 seconds left. Walkup tried a floater, which Bolomboy blocked on its way down, allowing Zalgiris to tie it at 82-82, with 4.7 seconds left. And then James came through again with the game-winner.
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