Zalgiris gets convincing win against Fenerbahce 6

Zalgiris Kaunas grabbed its third consecutive home win by downing Fenerbahce Istanbul 86-66 in front of a sellout crowd at Zalgirio Arena on Thursday evening. Despite losing scoring leader Keenan Evans in the opening minute of the game, Zalgiris saw off Fenerbahce to go up to 9-8 in the standings.

Ignas Brazdeikis and Tomas Dimsa paced the winners with 17 points apiece. Zalgiris also had Laurynas Birutis add 15 points and Edgaras Ulanovas contribute 10.

Devin Booker had 10 points for Fenerbahce, which dropped to 10-7 and is now on a five-game losing streak.

Evans just played the opening 53 seconds due to an Achilles heel injury. Brazdeikis and Rolands Smits allowed the hosts to get an early 12-8 lead. Birutis and Ulanovas boosted Zalgiris’ lead to 21-15 after 10 minutes.

Johnathan Motley kept Fenerbahce within 30-26 early in the second quarter. Zalgiris found a go-to guy in Lukas Lekavicius, who got help from Arnas Butkevicius and Smits to give the hosts a 41-30 advantage at halftime.

Birutis and Dimsa took over after the break, fueling a 12-0 run that bridged between both halves to break the game open, 50-30. Dimsa added back-to-back triples not long after for a 56-31 score. Nothing changed after that, as Zalgiris boosted its margin to 67-40 after 30 minutes and sealed the outcome long before the final buzzer.