2019-20Regular SeasonRound 4
Zalgiris Kaunas 70
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 56
October 25, 2019 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Zalgiris gets second straight win

Zalgiris Kaunas recorded its second consecutive win by topping LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 70-56 in front of almost 15,000 fans at Zalgirio Arena on Friday. Both teams now have a 2-2 record in the regular season standings. Zach LeDay led the winners with 13 points. Thomas Walkup added 12, Marius Grigonis 11 and Arturas Milaknis 10. Tonye Jekiri led ASVEL with 10 points. Three-pointers by Antoine Diot, Charles Kahudi and David Lighty helped ASVEL get a 14-20 lead after 10 minutes. But Walkup and Milaknis fueled a 14-0 run that put Zalgiris ahead, 28-20, midway through the second quarter. Zalgiris kept a 38-30 margin at halftime and extended it to 55-45 at the end of the third quarter. Nothing changed after that, as the hosts kept a safe margin until the final buzzer.

Diot got ASVEL going with a three-pointer and Kahudi soon added a jumper for a 2-5 lead. Grigonis struck from downtown but a layup by Jekiri ignited a 0-7 run which Diot capped with a driving basket for a 5-12 score. Leday and Grigonis stepped up for Zalgiris, combining for 7 quick points to keep their team within 12-14. Lighty buried a triple and Edwin Jackson added a jumper to restore a 14-20 ASVEL lead after 10 minutes. Walkup took over early in the second quarter with 4 quick points and Milaknis added a catch-and-shoot triple and a coast-to-coast dunk. ASVEL kept struggling to score while a layup by LeDay and a three-pointer by Grigonis boosted the hosts' lead to 28-20, after a 14-0 run. Livio Jean-Charles hit a jumper but Lukas Lekavicius and Milaknis kept Zalgiris way ahead, 32-24. Kahudi and Diot brought ASVEL a bit closer, 33-28, at halftime. Walkup hit a corner triple soon after the break and Paulius Jankunas added his trademark jumper from the elbow for a 38-30 Zalgiris lead. A layup by LeDay soon made it a double-digit game, 41-30, forcing ASVEL to call timeout. Walkup struck again from beyond the arc and Jankunas added a driving layup, but Jekiri and Amine Noua kept the guests within 46-36. Lighty and Rihards Lomasz each hit a three-pointer and Noua added a layup to give ASVEL hope at 52-45. Milaknis beat the third-quarter buzzer with a triple that restored a 55-45 Zalgiris margin after 30 minutes. Edgaras Ulanovas scored in the low post midway through the fourth quarter and a jumper by Nigel Hayes made it a 12-point game, 59-47, with 4 minutes left. Walkup downed a step-back jumper, LeDay scored again and a three-pointer by Ulanovas sealed the outcome.

Pivotal performer

Thomas Walkup did a little bit of everything to lead Zalgiris off the bench. He finished with 12 points on 2-of-4 two-point shots, 2-of-2 three-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws, adding 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 fouls drawn for a PIR of 19.

Game-changing moment

The opening 5 minutes of the second quarter changed everything. ASVEL went scoreless and everyone contributed for Zalgiris – Zach LeDay, Walkup, Marius Grigonis and Arturas Milaknis, who sank his trademark three-pointer off a screen and added an unexpected coast-to-coast dunk in a 14-0 run that gave the hosts a 28-20 margin. Zalgiris never trailed after that.

Stellar stat

Bench scoring made the difference in this game - Zalgiris's backup players combined for 41 points and ASVEL only got 24 points from its bench. Shooting percentages were important, too. Zalgiris hit 55.2% inside the arc and 42.1% from downtown, much better than ASVEL (39.5% 2FG, 26.1% 3FG).

Did you notice?

Both teams have now played nine times against each other and the host team always won. Zalgiris is 5-0 at home against ASVEL and 0-4 in Villeurbanne. It was their first matchup since 2009, but the story repeated itself - again!

Next game:

These teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action earlier than usual next week due to the first two-round week of the season. ASVEL hosts KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz on Tuesday at 20:45 CET. A day later, Zalgiris welcomes Zenit St Petersburg - featuring former head coach Joan Plaza - at 19:00 CET.

Thomas Walkup - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB19
Friday, October 25, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; GKONTAS, SPIROS; ALIAGA, JORDI
Attendance: 14828
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas14192215
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne2081711
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas14335570
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne20284556
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WALKUP, THOMAS 24:20 12 2/4 2/2 2/2   6 6 4   3       2 19
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 16:48 4 2/4           2   2     2 2 2
10 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 18:55 3 1/2 0/3 1/2 2 1 3     1     4 2 -2
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 10:14 5 2/2   1/2 1 3 4 1   1     4 2 6
16 LUKOSIUNAS, KAROLIS 2:09     0/1                       -1
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 26:46 10 1/1 2/4 2/2   2 2 1 1 1     2 2 11
23 GEBEN, MARTINAS 7:30   0/1       1 1       1 1   1 1
32 LEDAY, ZACH 28:31 13 5/9 0/1 3/4 2 6 8 1   5 2 3 2 5 13
34 LANDALE, JOCK 14:13 6 1/2 0/1 4/4 1   1     1   1 2 2 3
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 20:12 11 1/1 3/4     3 3 1 1       4 2 13
77 KRIISA, KERR 2:09 1   0/1 1/2                   1  
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 28:13 5 1/3 1/2   1 2 3 2         2 2 7
Team           1 4 5     1         4
Totals 200:00 70 16/29 8/19 14/18 8 28 36 12 2 15 3 5 22 23 76
        55.2% 42.1% 77.8%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 JACKSON, EDWIN 25:29 7 1/5 0/3 5/6       4         2 6 7
2 TAYLOR, JORDAN 14:16 1 0/1 0/2 1/2   3 3 2 1 1     3 2 1
3 JEKIRI, TONYE 24:50 10 4/10   2/4 5 5 10 1 2     1 1 4 17
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 19:48 7 2/3 1/3   1   1 2   1     3   3
9 LOMAZS, RIHARDS 16:47 6 0/2 2/4   1 2 3   1     1 3 3 5
11 GALLIOU, CHARLES 6:53           2 2 1 1       1 1 4
12 NOUA, AMINE 21:24 8 4/6 0/2   2   2 1   2 1 1 4 1 2
17 JEAN-CHARLES, LIVIO 18:16 4 2/4 0/2   1 1 2 1   1 2   2 2 4
19 DIOT, ANTOINE 22:43 7 2/3 1/3   1   1 1 1 3     1 2 5
21 BAKO, ISMAEL 5:30   0/1       3 3       2       4
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 24:04 6 0/3 2/4         2 1       3 1 2
Team           3   3     1         2
Totals 200:00 56 15/38 6/23 8/12 14 16 30 15 7 9 5 3 23 22 56
        39.5% 26.1% 66.7%
Head coach: MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas

“Congratulations to our fans, who one more time made a great effort and their push was very important when the team was struggling a little bit. We were not where we wanted to be as far as physicality, because ASVEL is a really physical team, and they took us by surprise in the first quarter which I didn’t like at all.”

"I think it is one of those games that you kind of pull it out. I think we didn't do the things that we said we had to do and that is a little bit disappointing. At the same time, we have to go through this type of game to pull them out when things are not going good, when we are not playing very good basketball because in the EuroLeague, it is really difficult to win games when you are not playing good. Defensively, so many mental mistakes, in my opinion, and still, 56 points, so it is something I take. Right now, the most important is to keep winning but it is equally important to improve. We got the win but I am not sure we improved today. This is the negative for me."

MITROVIC, ZVEZDAN
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
“First congratulations to Zalgiris. It was a pleasure for our team to be here and enjoy this great atmosphere. We didn’t play a bad game. We controlled the rhythm and the tempo, but the key moment was at around 53-47, when we had I think five offensive misses, we missed some layups, and Zalgiris took advantage and it was the end of the game. Zalgiris is a favorite for the playoffs and they have a lot of quality. Maybe they weren’t ready at the beginning, but of course they woke up and started to play aggressive defense. They are very aggressive and they started to control the rebounding, and it was difficult for us to continue our good first quarter. We missed two players and it’s not easy to play with seven or eight players. But we came to EuroLeague to experience this and make some surprises if we can.”

Players

WALKUP, THOMAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Defense was the key. Even when we slipped up a couple of times on some small things, little details, I think our defense today was pretty good - 56 points, that is a number we like and will remember. We have to keep putting up on the defensive end, keeping teams to that number and if we do that, we are going to have more chances to win games. It is super important to get on a winning groove. You start with one, two and then you just build and build, and momentum builds, too. It is very important to get that first couple of wins and we were glad to be here."
LEDAY, ZACH
Zalgiris Kaunas
"It was just an ugly game. We had to fight, get every rebound and do little things that ended up contributing to us holding them to 56 points to win it. We have to look at the film but it was just an ugly game. They were playing slow and running their sets. That slowed the game down. We weren't able to run as much but it is OK. A win is a win, and we are going to watch film, Coach is going to be honest and we are going to look to improve."