Unicaja Malaga came back from a 12 point deficit late in the third quarter to pick up its first victory at the ADIDAS NEXT GENERATION TOURNAMENT by defeating Zalgiris Kaunas 78-73. Romaric Belemene paced Unicaja with 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks while Viny Okouo had 12 points and Carlos Corts added 11 points as the Spanish team improved to 1-1 in Group B. The two-time champion Zalgiris is still looking for its first victory as Martynas Echodas’ 19 points and 11 rebounds were not enough. Laurynas Beliauskas added 16 points, four assists, four steals and 10 turnovers in the loss, and Martynas Varnas chipped in 13 points and eight assists in the loss.

Zalgiris was the first team to pull away a bit as Echodas and Laurynas Birutis scored to open a 6-11 lead. Mykolas Dieninis and Varnas both nailed three-balls as the cushion grew to 11-17. After a dunk by Okouo, Gytis Masiulis hit a basket and a later free throw to give Kaunas a 16-23 lead after 10 minutes. Malaga opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run as Rares Uta scored four points and Jose Rodriguez nailed a three-pointer for a 25-23 lead. Echodas gave Zalgiris the lead back before Beliauskas hit two long balls and Dieninis also was on target from long range as the Lithuanian club moved ahead 30-40. The score was 32-40 at intermission.

After Varnas pushed the lead back to double digits to stat the second half, Unicaja scored six straight points to trim the gap to 38-42. But Zalgiris held Malaga scoreless for three minutes in opening a 38-47 margin. A Varnas three-point play and two Beliauaskas free throws increased the cushion to 40-52. And it was 44-56 with a minute to play in the third. But Unicaja scored the final seven points of the period, including Belemene’s three-pointer at the buzzer. Belemene cut it to 55-56 before Echodas snapped the 11-0 run. But Zalgiris was stuck on 58 points for 3:18 minutes while Unicaja went ahead 65-58 halfway through the fourth. The cushion was still 69-62 with 2:46 to play. Zalgiris pulled to within 69-66 on Arnoldas Kulboka’s three-point play. But Belemene answered with a three-pointer from the left corner with 68 seconds remaining. Beliauaskas however punched right back with a three-ball and then scored after a steal to cut the deficit to 72-71 with 42 seconds on the block. Belemene turned the ball over but rushed back to block Kulboka’s shot, which was followed by two Corts free throws to make it 74-71. Belemene then stole the in-bounds pass and threw down a dunk for a 76-71 advantage. Echodas did score quickly but Victor Aguilar made two free throws with 9.1 seconds left to ice the game.