EuroLeague home opener ends with a loss 35

EuroLeague basketball came back to Zalgirio Arena after a while, as Zalgiris Kaunas fell to Zenit St Petersburg 64-70 on Thursday night.

Jordan Loyd scored a game-high 19 points to lead the winners – including a key jump shot and 2 free throws in the final 30 seconds to hold off a late Zalgiris rally. Billy Baron added 11 points and Mateusz Ponitka tallied 6 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for Zenit, which held its opponent below 70 points for the second game in a row.

Janis Strelnieks led the Zalgiris attack with 14 points and Joffrey Lauvergne and Lukas Lekavicius scored 10 points apiece. Lekavicius also delivered 6 assists.

Lauvergne dunked just 4 seconds from the opening tip and scored twice more as the hosts jumped ahead 6-2. Connor Frankamp was left open long enough to drill a three that gave Zenit the lead. A series of Zalgiris turnovers prompted an early timeout, but the hosts struggled to find their scoring touch. A mid-range jumper by Loyd made it 8-13. Lekavicius got going for Zalgiris with an alley-oop assist to Josh Nebo and a floater. Free throws by Baron gave the visitors a 16-21 edge after 10 minutes.

Baron padded the lead with a triple, however, Edgaras Ulanovas revived Zalgiris with a 4-point play. Alex Poythress kept Zenit in control. Fresh off the bench, Lauvergne’s reverse layup made it 25-31 midway through the second quarter. Sergey Karasev became the fourth Zenit player to score from behind the arc and Poythress gave the visitors a double-digit lead, 25-35, from the line. After a three by Strelnieks and a slam by Lauvergne, Coach Pascual called timeout for Zenit. Loyd and Strenieks each scored to send the teams to halftime at 34-40.

Despite losing Lauvergne to an injury early in the third quarter, back-to-back threes by Ulanovas and Strelnieks changed the momentum and a floater by Lekavicius tied the game at 42-42. Emmanuel Mudiay’s mid-range jumper – his first points of the game – gave Zalgiris its first lead since the first quarter, 47-46. Loyd answered with a three and Zenit protected and extended the lead. A pretty move by Lekavicius made it 51-55 at the end of the third quarter.

Loyd and Baron combined for the first 5 points of the fourth quarter as Zenit threatened to pull away. Andrey Zubkov’s second three of the game made it 53-63. Josh Nebo did his best to ignite Zalgiris with a pair of blocks on defense and a mid-range basket. Lekavicius carved up the Zenit defense to get within 60-65 with less than 2 minutes remaining. After a defensive stand, Nebo split free throws with 49 seconds remaining and Loyd’s jumper in the lane all but secured the victory.