Zalgiris edges Crvena Zvezda in Jankunas’ final game 12

Kaunas gave the legendary Paulius Jankunas a fitting send-off in his final EuroLeague game with a 103-98 overtime victory over Crvena Zvezda Belgrade on Sunday night at Zalgirio Arena.

Jankunas scored 8 points in the overtime session to spark the Lithuanian champs. He finished with a season-high 13 points plus 7 rebounds for a PIR of 17, which was also his best of the season. Edgaras Ulanovas led the winners with 18 points, Lukas Lekavicius scored 17 and dished 7 assists, Josh Nebo netted 16 points and Tyler Cavanaugh had 12, including the game-tying three-pointer on the fourth-quarter buzzer to force overtime. The game was Zalgiris’s last of the season and it finished with an 8-20 record.

Ognjen Dobric paced Zvezda with a season-high 21 points, Dejan Davidovac scored 18, Stefan Markovic 14, Nikola Kalinic 12 and Aaron White 11. Zvezda dropped to 11-16 and has one more game to play.

Lekavicius found Nebo inside for the game’s first basket and Cavanaugh also scored before Nate Wolters got the visitors on the scoreboard. However, Karolis Lukosiunas shined with an alley-oop assist to Nebo and then a three-pointer as the hosts pulled away. Lekavicius’s first basket made it 11-2 and then, with 5:02 on the clock, the crowd erupted when Jankunas made his first appearance. Zvezda finally got going with a quick 5 points from Dobric, but Nebo kept the hosts cruising. White nailed a triple for the visitors before Jankunas scored his first points of the night from the line and Arturas Milaknis’s floater made it 23-14 after 10 minutes.

Marek Blazevic scored inside to give the hosts the game’s first double-digit lead and free throws by Tai Webster stretched the margin to 13. Dobric remained effective for Zvezda with a scoop shot, however, Zalgiris remained firmly in control. Luka Mitrovic stepped up for the visitors with baskets on consecutive possessions for narrow the gap to 33-23 midway through the second quarter. Nikola Ivanovic’s three-point play further cut into the Zalgiris lead, 35-28.  A triple by Ulanovas restored a double-digit Zalgiris cushion and, after a Zvezda timeout, Nebo dunked in his own miss to make it 42-28. Lukosiunas drained a three-pointer before Davidovac’s putback settled the halftime score at 45-32.

Mitrovic and Ulanovas traded shots to start the second half. Dobric drained a triple and dunked, which prompted a Zalgiris timeout. Wolters kept up the pressure with a basket to make it 47-43. Lekavicius gave the hosts some breathing room with free throws, but Davidovac’s diving save led to a Kalinic triple. Zvezda continued to surge as White and Davidovic made threes to even things at 54-54 midway through the third quarter. Lekavicius put the hosts back in front from the foul line, but a triple by Markovic gave the visitors their first lead, 58-59, and Davidovac added another before Zalgiris called timeout. Little changed as Davidovac scored inside and Kalinic’s dunk-and-one completed a 0-11 run to make it 58-67. Niels Giffey revived the hosts with a layup to end the quarter with the visitors ahead 60-67.

Nebo made a jumper and Lekavicius knocked down a three as Zalgiris trimmed the deficit to 65-70. After a layup by Giffey, the arena was rocking and Zvezda called timeout. White buries a three to make it 69-75, but Zalgiris answered twice through Ulanovas to get within 2. Cavanaugh completed the comeback and tied the score at 75-75. Dobric restored a Zvezda lead with a three only for Jankunas to match him. Markovic beat the shot clock for a three and an 80-83 lead with 2 minutes to go. Zvezda broke the Zalgiris press to get Kalinic an uncontested dunk and free throws by Dobric with 15.3 seconds left gave the visitors an 82-87 lead. However, after Milaknis buried a three, Davidovac split free throws and Cavanaugh took advantage to sink a game-tying three on the buzzer to force overtime.

Jankunas scored the first points of overtime in the post. Kalinic tied it before Jankunas split free throws to make it 91-90. He then teamed with Ulanovas for back-to-back triples to bring the fans to their feet. Stefan Lazarevic gave Zvezda hope with free throws that brought his team within 5. Jankunas countered with free throws, however a three by Markovic made it 99-95. Ulanovas came through with a put-back and 2 free throws with 5.5 seconds remaining to secure the win.