Zalgiris takes down Galatasaray in a Gloria Cup thriller 0

Yet another Zalgiris game in Gloria Cup went right down to the wire, as the green-and-whites wasted a double-digit fourth quarter lead, but managed to hold on to a thrilling, 71-70 (20-21, 19-18, 22-10, 10-21) victory against Turkish side Galatasaray.

It was all about Zach LeDay in the first quarter, as he dropped 11 points in just the opening quarter. Nevertheless, that didn’t not transpire into a lead for the Kaunas side, as a big run by the Turks had Zalgiris trailing by a point, 20-21.

It was a nip-and-tuck affair in the second quarter, too and Zalgiris only managed to cut ahead after the break, as a three-point hail saw Zalgiris’ lead rise to double-digits, as they held a 12-point advantage heading into the final segment of the game.

A three-minute drought for the Lithuanian champions helped Galatasaray get back into the game, as they easily found their way to the free-throw line and kept on cutting into the margin. As the final minutes rolled in, Thomas Walkup took reigns and managed to guide Zalgiris to a tough, hard-fought victory.

The win sees Zalgiris finishing second in their group and they will now battle for third place in the tournament on Sunday, 16:00.

Zach LeDay was scorching the net again, as he posted 23 points and 6 rebounds. Thomas Walkup added 12 points, 4 assists and 2 steals, while Martinas Geben ended up with 10 points and 6 boards. Karolis Lukosiunas, Arturas Milaknis and Rokas Jokubaitis all ended up with 8 points apiece.