Zalgiris beats Valencia at home 12

Zalgiris Kaunas recorded an important win in its race to make it to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague playoffs by downing Valencia Basket 95-74 in front of a sellout crowd at Zalgirio Arena in Round 32 on Friday.

Zalgiris improved to 17-15 in the standings. Meanwhile, Valencia dropped to 14-18 and ran out of mathematical chances to reach the playoffs.

Lukas Lekavicius paced the winners with 16 points. Ignas Brazdeikis got 15, Karolis Lukosiunas and Isaiah Taylor each added 12 while Rolands Smits and Arnas Butkevicius had 11 apiece for Zalgiris.

James Webb led Valencia with 18 points. Jasiel Rivero added 17 while Shannon Evans had 15 for the guests.

Smits followed a layup with a three-pointer, Taylor struck from downtown and Edgaras Ulanovas buried a jumper for a 14-8 Zalgiris lead. Webb stepped up with a triple and a put-back basket to keep Valencia within 16-13. Laurynas Birutis and Lekavicius boosted the hosts’ lead to 21-16 after 10 minutes.

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui struck from beyond the arc in a 0-7 run that Evans capped with a fastbreak basket for a 23-25 Valencia lead. A red-hot Evans took over with a three-point play and back-to-back triples for a 36-37 Valencia edge. Lukosiunas and Butkevicius fueled an 8-0 run that restored a 44-37 Zalgiris lead. Butkevicius and Brazdeikis each dunked, then Lekavicius’ jumper fixed the halftime score at 52-40.

Smits beat the shot clock with a three-pointer and Lekavicius’ off-balance basket boosted the hosts’ lead to 59-45. Rivero tried to change things with consecutive layups, bringing Valencia within 63-52. Brazdeikis took over with a wild put-back layup and fed Lekavicius for a bomb from downtown that broke the game open, 68-52.

Butkevicius, Taylor and Lukosiunas each struck from beyond the arc to open up a 77-55 breach early in the fourth quarter. Evans and Kyle Alexander fueled a 0-6 Valencia run, but Birutis followed a jump hook with a dunk that sealed the outcome.