Jankunas, Lekavicius lead Zalgiris to Bamberg win

Zalgiris Kaunas boosted its playoff chances with a thrilling 86-91 road victory at Brose Bamberg in a game that saw both teams leave absolutely everything on the floor. The Lithuanain champs collected their fourth win in their last five games to improve to 10-13 and remain two wins out of the playoff zone. Bamberg dropped its six game of its last seven to fall to 8-15. It was a tantalizingly close battle nearly all the way, with Bamberg battling back from an early deficit to briefly lead by 6 in the third quarter. But in the end a pair of spectacular personal performances – inside from Paulius Jankunas, outside from Lukas Lekavicius – were enough to see Zalgiris home. Jankunas combined 24 points and 6 rebounds, and Lekavicius came within one missed two-pointer of a perfect shooting night on his way to a career-high 29 points. Edgaras Ulanovas also delivered, netting 6 consecutive late free-throws in a total of 11 points. The home team was paced by 17 points apiece from Nicolo Melli and Daniel Theis, while Darius Miller netted 15 and Leon Radosevic scored 10.

Jankunas was the game’s dominant early force, scoring 9 points in three minutes as his team raced into a 5-12 lead. Leo Westermann and Kevin Pangos sank triples to give Zalgiris a double-digit lead, but Theis came off the bench to score 9 first-quarter points as Bamberg came back with a 9-0 run. Lekavicius mirrored Theis’s impact by scoring 8 off the bench, including the first points of the second quarter to make it 22-30. The next bench-booster was Alexej Nikolic with 5 quick points for Bamberg, but a huge slam from Augusto Lima helped protect Zalgiris’s lead, which was 45-49 at the interval thanks to Brock Motum’s buzzer-beating triple. Jankunas started the second half with another pair of triples, but Bamberg kept fighting and Melli went coast-to-coast to make it a 1-point deficit. Zisis gave the hosts their first lead and Bamberg, with an 11-0 run, was threatening to grab a big lead until Lekavicius netted 10 points in three minutes to make it 68-67 at the end of the third. A big slam from Antanas Kavaliauskas restored Zalgiris’s lead and the lead changed hands five times in four minutes as the drama continued. Zalgiris went on a 0-7 run to take control, and another strike from Lekavicius made it 77-83 with 1:19 to play. Triples from Miller and Melli kept the game alive, but Ulanovas held his nerve from the foul line and Zalgiris held on.