Zalgiris doesn’t catch Zenit at home 54
Zalgiris Kaunas fought hard in the last quarter, but lost 75-83 to Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday evening at Zalgirio Arena.
Zalgiris rallied to 6 in the closing minutes, but ran out of time. The result lifted Zenit’s record to 6-2, while Zalgiris slumped to 5-6 with its fourth straight loss at home.
Austin Hollins paced the Zenit attack with 20 points, Will Thomas tallied 16 points and 7 rebounds, Kevin Pangos delivered 13 points and 7 assists and Alex Poythress added 11 points.
Marius Grigonis led Zalgiris with 18 points, Joffrey Lauvergne collected 17 points and 8 rebounds and Augustine Rubit scored 12 in defeat.
A pair of baskets by Lauvergne gave the hosts an early lead, but the defenses cooled the pace and Mateusz Ponitka’s layup gave Zenit its first lead, 6-8. Thomas powered the visitors from the outside and in the paint and Hollins got going with a steal and slam followed by a three-pointer and free throws that boosted the margin to 13-23. Rubit ended Zenit’s 0-8 run and closed the gap to 15-23 after 10 minutes.
Zenit continued to roll as K.C. Rivers opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and Kevin Pangos soon added another to make it 17-31. A three by Grigonis got the hosts going again, but a score by Poythress made it 24-36 midway through the second quarter. Grigonis connected twice more from behind the arc to keep Zenit from pulling away, but Thomas left the visitors comfortable ahead, 32-45, at the break.
Zenit came out hot for the second half with back-to-back threes by Hollins and Pangos. Before long, Thomas and Ponitka added triples. Pangos zipped through the Zalgiris defense with a layup to cap a 2-14 run that made it 34-59. Grigonis provided a spark for Zalgiris and a modest 6-0 run with points from Lauvergne, Paulius Jankunas and Arturas Milaknis trimmed the deficit to 47-63. Lauvergne added a jumper to make it 51-66 through three quarters.
Nigel Hayes heated up for Zalgiris and Lauvergne’s steal and slam made it 58-68. Rokus Jokubaitis narrowed the gap to 8 before Hollins relaxed the visitors with a jumper and an all-balance three by Thomas extended the lead to 69-81 with 2 and a half minutes to play. Even though Grigonis sank free throws that made it a 6-point game, the clock became a Zalgiris opponent, too, and Zenit held on for the victory.
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