Zalgiris juniors open ANGT with a win 0

U18 Zalgiris Kaunas wasted a 15-point lead but managed to prevail with an 83-76 win over U18 Khimki Moscow Region in its opening game at the Euroleague Basketball adidas Next Generation Tournament Kaunas.

Rokas Jokubaitis paced Zalgiris with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 9 assists while Martynas Arlauskas scored 18 points and Erikas Venskus collected 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win in Group A. Zalgiris survived making just 1-of-14 (7 percent) three-pointers but out-rebounded Khimki 52-23 – with 20 offensive rebounds.

Khimki was led by Anton Alakin with 19 points while Dmitrii Kadoshnikov and Vladislav Odinokov both scored 17 points in the defeat.

Jokubaitis and Arlauskas combined for 10 points as Zalgiris jumped ahead 14-4. Kadoshnikov answered with two baskets but the home side was able to extend the lead to 21-10 and was up 21-12 after 10 minutes. Two more scores from Jokubaitis to start the second quarter had the margin at 27-12. Konstantin Shevchuk and Kirill Studenikin combined for 9 points as Khimki punched back with a 6-15 surge to cut the gap to 33-27. But Zalgiris regained momentum and was leading 46-31 at intermission.

Odinokov knocked down two three-pointers to help Khimki pull within 50-43. Jokubaitis and Venskus carried the margin out to 60-47 only to see Khimki trail just 60-55 after three quarters. Shevchuk hit 2 three-pointers as Khimki evened the game 68-68. Odinokov scored a putback to put Khimki up 71-72, which started five consecutive lead changes as Jokubaitis made it 77-76. Zalgiris was able to get just enough defensive stops in holding Khimki scoreless for the final 3:28 minutes.