Zalgiris finishes 2022 with a narrow loss in Monaco 14
Zalgiris Kaunas led for the most of the game, but came up short, 82-84, against AS Monaco at Salle Gaston Medecin on Thursday.
AS Monaco improved to 11-5 in the standings to remain tied for the best record in the league. Elie Okobo paced the winners with 22 points, 9 assists and 4 steals. Alpha Diallo and Yakuba Ouattara each added 14 points for AS Monaco.
Rolands Smits led Zalgiris with 18 points, Keenan Evans added 17, Edgaras Ulanovas had 12 and Laurynas Birutis 10. Zalgiris led most of the way but Okobo made the difference with 13 points in the final 7 minutes.
Smits and Tomas Dimsa each struck from downtown to give Zalgiris an early 12-5 lead. Diallo singlehandedly helped Monaco tie it at 13-13. Smits kept pacing the visitors, getting help from Evans to put Zalgiris fully in charge, 26-17, after 10 minutes.
Birutis’ three-point play soon boosted his team’s margin to 32-19. Diallo and Okobo rescued AS Monaco and then Jaron Blossomgame brought the hosts within 49-42 at halftime.
Mike James picked up his fourth foul early in the second half. Meanwhile, Evans and Birutis kept Zalgiris fully in charge, 64-54. Ouattara buried back-to-back triples to get Monaco within 64-60 after 30 minutes.
Then Okobo took over, getting back-to-back dunks off steals to complete the hosts’ comeback, 74-78, with 2 minutes left. Okobo kept AS Monaco ahead and even though Zalgiris had a chance to win the game, Smits missed a final shot that came right after the final buzzer.
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