2017-18Regular SeasonRound 29
March 30, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Fourth quarter charge allows Zalgiris to down CSKA

A sensational final period allowed Zalgiris Kaunas to record a hugely impressive 85-73 victory over CSKA Moscow on a thrilling night at the Zalgirio Arena. The home team led most of the way but was only up by two points early in the fourth quarter, when a spectacular 16-0 surge put the game out of reach and improved Zalgiris to 17-12 with one round remaining, while table-topping CSKA drops to 23-6. Kevin Pangos led the offense with 15 points and 11 assists, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. The home team also had a trio of big performances inside, with Brandon Davies contributing 17 points and 5 rebounds, Antanas Kavaliauskas providing 11 points and 5 rebounds and veteran Paulius Jankunas adding 13 points. Only two players scored in double figures for CSKA: Nando De Colo had 18 points, while Kyle Hines added 12. Zalgiris had 19 assists compared to just 11 for CSKA, and the visitors were restricted to just 5-of-21 (23.8%) three-point attempts by an outstanding Zalgiris defense.

Hines shone early with a pair of lay-ups, but Pangos struck from deep for Zalgiris and the home team moved ahead through a driving basket from Vasilije Micic. That was quickly answered by Andrey Vorontsevich but Pangos then hit another triple and Kavaliauskas made free throws for a 14-10 edge. Semen Antonov and Will Clyburn came off the bench to level, but Davies and Kavaliauskas scored from close range and before Beno Udrih hit a buzzer-beating triple to make it 23-16. Othello Hunter and Davies scored from close range at the start of the second, before Sergio Rodriguez and Edgaras Ulanovas traded baskets as Zalgiris stayed ahead. Jankunas scored 7 points in a hurry, including a left-handed lay-up plus one, and another driving score from Micic made it 36-27 midway through the quarter. Mid-range jumpers from Leo Westermann and Hines reduced the deficit, and Victor Rudd finally scored CSKA’s first three-pointer with 17 minutes played. Then De Colo netted from long-range and the visitors were back within 3. Another three-point play from Jankunas steadied Zalgiris, and Pangos moved into double figures with a mid-range jumper before Ulanovas scored a transition lay-up and one to make it 48-39, but Westermann allowed his team to enter the locker rooms on a high with a half-court buzzer-beater.

Arturas Milaknis scored the first basket in a slow start to the second half, before Clyburn got CSKA moving with a baseline lay-up, Rudd hit a corner three and Cory Higgins made a steal and fastbreak slam to make it 51-49. Davies scored down low but Higgins and Clyburn drove to score again to make it a one-point game. De Colo netted a backdoor lay-up to give CSKA its first lead of the second half and complete a 3-11 run, but Micic immediately got Zalgiris back in front from the foul line. Udrih’s steal and fastbreak lay-up changed the momentum, and Udrih produced another driving score before De Colo hit a buzzer-beating three to make it 64-60 after three quarters. De Colo netted again at the start of the fourth but then Zalgiris took off: Aaron White started the run with a put-back slam and a three-point play from Davies stretched the lead to 7. An unsportsmanlike foul on Clyburn allowed White to score from the foul line, and a deep three from Pangos gave Zalgiris its first double-digit lead at 74-62. Milaknis added another triple and a lay-up from Kavaliauskas completed a 16-0 run to break the game wide open. Hines stopped the rot with an alley-oop lay-up but Udrih netted a jumper to settle any nerves, and CSKA was never able to threaten a comeback in the final stages.

Kevin Pangos - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB17
Friday, March 30, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; RYZHYK, BORYS; PEREZ, EMILIO
Attendance: 15525
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23251621
CSKA Moscow18241813
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas23486485
CSKA Moscow18426073
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 25:09 17 6/13   5/7   5 5       1 2 3 6 15
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 29:31 15 3/4 3/3     2 2 11 2 4       3 28
9 UDRIH, BENO 19:23 9 3/4 1/1     3 3     1     3   7
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 23:12 13 3/4 0/2 7/8   3 3 2 2 3     3 7 17
19 SAJUS, MARTYNAS 0:50                              
20 MASIULIS, GYTIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 26:58 5 1/1 1/3   1   1       1   1   4
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 19:07 6 2/4 0/1 2/2   1 1 1   1   1 2 1 2
30 WHITE, AARON 10:11 4 1/1 0/1 2/2 1   1             1 5
44 KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS 18:43 11 3/7   5/6 2 3 5 3 1 1   1 5 4 12
66 VALINSKAS, PAULIUS 0:50                              
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 26:06 5 2/4   1/1 2 4 6 2 1       2 3 13
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 85 24/42 5/11 22/26 7 24 31 19 6 10 2 4 19 25 107
        57.1% 45.5% 84.6%
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
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DE COLO, NANDO 23:31 18 5/8 2/5 2/2 1   1   2 1 1 1 2 2 14
3 RUDD, VICTOR 19:21 6 0/1 2/3     2 2     1 1   1 2 7
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 5:08   0/1 0/1                   2   -4
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 19:06 5 1/2 1/4     2 2 5   1     2 2 7
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 8:36 2 1/2 0/1   1   1           2   -1
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 16:10 6 1/1 0/4 4/4 1 1 2 2 1       2 2 7
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 10:17 2 1/2 0/2     1 1       1   2   -1
21 CLYBURN, WILL 19:46 6 3/6     1 1 2   2 2     3 3 5
22 HIGGINS, CORY 20:12 6 3/6       1 1 1 1 2   1 2 2 3
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 17:53 7 3/3 0/1 1/1 1 4 5 1   2       1 11
42 HINES, KYLE 24:00 12 5/5   2/3   2 2 2         3 3 15
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 16:00 3 1/4   1/2 1 2 3       1   4 2 1
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 73 24/41 5/21 10/12 9 17 26 11 6 10 4 2 25 19 67
        58.5% 23.8% 83.3%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas

“Congratulations to everybody, an amazing win against a great team and one of the best wins of our season, no question. I hope we can continue on this line for the playoffs and maybe even improve.”

“I thought we played a great game. When we controlled the game plan and controlled our emotions, went with the ball where we wanted, we were doing really good. All credit to the players, they were unbelievable. To hold CSKA to 73 is amazing, this is the key. They have such good guards and defend the pick and roll so well, we tried to attack inside and we were very successful today. It’s a great win for us and hopefully the players will enjoy it. Beno [Udrih] had bad luck with sickness and injury since he joined us but he’s looking better every day and I think he’ll help us even more in the future.”

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
“Good evening everybody and Happy Easter to everybody who celebrates. I would like to congratulate Zalgiris, they were better most of the game and deserved to win. Motivation is a magic thing in sport, and we haven’t found enough motivation for this game. We came back from half-time with a minus six but that was an illusion because we were not defending well. We made a better job defensively in the third quarter and took the lead, but this was the fourth game down the stretch that we couldn’t go to the free throw line, despite the efforts we put on playing on the post, playing aggressive basketball, driving a lot. We need to prepare much better. We wanted to play better for ourselves and our fans, but I have nothing in general to say against my players. We’re looking forward to the last regular season game to close this phase with a better performance and be prepared for the playoffs.”

Players

PANGOS, KEVIN
Zalgiris Kaunas
“It was very important, every game is important in EuroLeague, and I thought we played pretty well for the most part. They’re an amazing team but we fought for 40 minutes. We played as a team, got stops, hit shots, and when we play like that we’re tough to beat.”
RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO
CSKA Moscow
“It was a bad game for us. We didn’t play the way we’ve been playing in the last many games, we were not solid and they took advantage. They played much better than us.”
HIGGINS, CORY
CSKA Moscow
“They played a more motivated game and it showed on the court.”
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