Dinamo Sassari runs by Zalgiris for first win

Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari forced 31 turnovers and scored many easy baskets behind a season-high 22 steals en route to its first ever Turkish Airlines Euroleague win, downing Zalgiris Kaunas 92-80 on Friday night. Sassari improved to 1-4 in Group A, while Zalgiris dropped to 3-2. Zalgiris used its better start to open a 25-35 lead in the second quarter, but Sassari rallied behind its defense, running a fast break after fast break and taking a 42-41 lead into halftime. The teams traded leads in the third, before Sassari pulled away after starting the fourth quarter with a 15-2 run. The hosts never looked back, as Shane Lawal led the way with 25 points plus 9 rebounds, David Logan netted 16 of his 20 points in the second half, and Jeff Brooks collected 16 points and 7 steals. Edgar Sosa and Rakim Sanders had 10 points apiece in victory. James Anderson scored 15 for Zalgiris, Arturas Milankis had 14, Edgaras Ulanovas finished with 12, while Paulius Jankunas scored 10 in defeat.

First quarter: Anderson gets going, Zalgiris goes ahead

A fastbreak dunk from Shane Lawal got things going before Paulius Jankunas answered inside. Jeff Brooks nailed a jumper for the hosts, but Jankunas was good from close range again, 4-4. Lawal countered with another dunk, but a triple from Arturas Milaknis and a fastbreak dunk from Anderson put Zalgiris in front 7-9. Anderson followed it with a three-pointer, but Rakim Sanders answered with a corner triple on the other end. After a timeout, Anderson buried a wide-open three-pointer and after Lawal scored in a low-post, Milaknis hit his second shot from downtown to make it 12-20. Lawal muscled his way for a put-back-plus-free throw, but Arturas Gudaitis scored a put-back. The same player grabbed 3 more offensive boards before the end of the quarter, and after Jerome Dyson drove for a layup, Gudaitis’s put-back made it 17-26 at the end of the quarter.

Second quarter: Sassari races back behind its defense

Miroslav Todic and Edgaras Ulanovas traded baskets inside, before Edgar Sosa drove for a layup. Anderson and Dyson traded baskets from close range, before Darius Songaila and Brooks exchanged buckets inside. But Zalgiris remained hot from downtown, with Vaidas Kariniauskas nailing one for a double digit lead, 25-35. Sassari stepped it up on defense, however, applying the full-court press and forcing a pair of turnovers before Sanders and Dyson drove for layups and David Logan scored on a fastbreak to cap an 8-0 run. After a timeout, Jankunas snapped an 8-0 run, but Brooks and Logan each made a steal and raced for fastbreak baskets to tie the game at 37-37. Another fast break, this time finished by Sosa, made it 40-37. Jankunas snapped a 15-2 run with a layup, and Javtokas added a basket inside for Zalgiris to briefly regain the lead, but in the closing seconds of the quarter, Lawal made a steal and raced for an easy dunk and a 42-41 halftime lead.

Third quarter: Zalgiris climbs in front

Anderson opened the third quarter with a jumper and a triple, and Logan answered, getting a lucky roll on a three-pointer for a 45-46 lead. Lawal and Jankunas traded baskets from close range, and after a put-back from Brooks, a triple from Milaknis gave Zalgiris a 49-51 edge, but Logan hit another one from downtown to make it 53-51. Logan also made another steal that led to his easy fastbreak dunk, and Sanders scored from close range for the hosts. But Jankunas hit a jumper, and Zalgiris went 8 of 8 from the free throw line to keep trading leads. Anderson committed his fourth personal foul in the dying seconds of the quarter, but Ulanovas beat the buzzer with a triple to give the visitors a 60-64 lead.

Fourth quarter: Sassari pulls away to win it

Sosa opened the scoring in the fourth with a layup-plus-foul, and after Songaila scored a layup in a crowd on the other end, Lawal made a pair of, layups, then took an alley-oop pass from Sosa for a monster-dunk, 69-66. After a timeout, Lawal made a huge block, then Brooks came up with a steal and raced for a fastbreak dunk. Brooks and Lawal each came up with a steal on the next two Zalgiris possession, as Dyson's basket and Lawal's foul shots extended it to 75-66 and Anderson fouled out in the process. Ulanovas snapped a 15-2 run with a layup, but Brooks knocked down a three-pointer for an 80-68 advantage with under four minutes to go. Vytenis Lipkevicius and Milaknis hit back-to-back triples for Zalgiris, cutting it to 80-75, but after a timeout Brooks made a second-chance layup, then Logan banked in a triple for an 85-76 lead. Lipkevicius made a layup, but Lawal sealed it with a put-back dunk and Logan followed it by making another steal and racing for another fastbreak dunk. After Ulanovas made a layup in the final seconds for Zalgiris, Logan used few final seconds to race up the court and beat the buzzer from way downtown to round out the scoring in a fashion.