Bennet Cantu fail to qualify; Down Zalgiris Kaunas 77-71: Euroleague Recap
Put alongside the likes of Barcelona and Macabi Electra in the round of the last 16, Bennet Cantu put up a maverick show and had scored 9 points more, they would have knocked out Electra on their way to the last 8.
On Wednesday night, in what was their last outing of the league, they subdued the Zalgiris Kaunas 77-71. Although it turned out to be an inconsequential game for both, it was still an absorbing contest.
Manuchar Markoishvili was the star of the night. He was outstanding and paced the Cantu with a game high 32 points on an aggressive 5 for 10 from outside the arc and an accurate 9 for 9 from the free throw line. Giorgi Shermadini
supported him well by pounding 16 points and grabbing 8 rebounds.
Marko Popovic led the Kaunas with 15 points and 5 assists, Milan Rakovic scored 14 on 6 for 9 from the floor whereas Mantas Kalnietis bundled 12 points.
Kaunas started the game aggressively and dominated the entire second half of the first frame. They were ahead by 5 points, 23-18 by the end of the frame. Cantu were charged up in the second frame and started it with a magnificent
11-0 spurt, capped by Manuchar’s three to turn the momentum in their favour, to get ahead by 29-23. They maintained the lead until the end of the frame and by the end of 20 minutes; they found themselves ahead in the game, leading by 39-35.
The third frame was the most exciting of all.
Kaunas quickly slashed the deficit and after that, kept fighting hard to ensure that Cantu do not run away with the game. Scores got tied at many instances in those ten minutes and fittingly, it ended with both teams neck to neck
at 50 all.
After a quiet 3 minutes, Bennet were ahead by only two points 54-52, however in the ensuing passage, Kaunas got aggressive and reeled an 8-2 burst to turn the game in their favour at 60-56. Unfortunately for them, they froze after
that and on the other hand, Cantu responded with an 11-2 run, that yet again brought a twist in the game. Unlike Kaunas, Bennet took advantage of the momentum and kept scoring quickly until the end of the game to seal the victory in the end.
Bennet’s head coach Andrea Trinchieri seemed satisfied at the end with the performance of his team tonight and throughout the league.
"It was an amazing season. We played at the best level of European basketball for the first time. We enjoyed every minute of it. Euroleague is the top of basketball. My team competed against big teams and to finish with a win like
this against Zalgiris gives the season value. "
Tags: