Baskonia overpowers Zalgiris in second half 11
Zalgiris Kaunas had a tough test in EuroLeague Round 9 and was defeated 73-93 by Baskonia Vitoria at Buesa Arena on Wednesday.
Baskonia grabbed its fourth home win and went up to 5-4 in the standings. Matt Costello and Darius Thompson led the winners with 19 points apiece. Pierria Henry had 15 and Vanja Marinkovic 14 for Baskonia.
Edgaras Ulanovas scored 18 points for Zalgiris, which dropped to 5-4 in the standings and saw its three-game winning streak come to an end. Keenan Evans added 17, Tomas Dimsa 11 and Ignas Brazdeikis 10.
Zalgiris found an early go-to guy in Ulanovas, who scored 10 of his team’s first 13 points. Evans followed a triple with a driving layup for a 18-13 lead. Costello and Thompson helped Baskonia take a 21-20 edge after 10 minutes.
Costello boosted the hosts’ lead to 29-24 and then Evans and Dimsa each struck from downtown in a 8-0 run that gave Zalgiris a 32-29 lead. Rokas Giedraitis and Thompson got the hosts within 42-44 at halftime.
Arnas Butkevicius made it 51-45 soon after the break. Giedraitis and Costello fueled a 14-3 run that gave Baskonia a 64-58 margin after three quarters.
Marinkovic’s fastbreak layup soon made it a double-digit game, 75-64. Little changed after that, as Baskonia cruised to a well-deserved victory.
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