KK Zagreb edge out Zalgiris Kaunas 80-78 in a thriller - Euroleague Recap (Part 1)
After four heavy losses, KK Zagreb finally collected their first and much needed win of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague 2011 after edging past Zalgiris Kaunas 80-78 in a nail biter, played at the Arena Zagreb.
The Croatians adopted a different strategy and were active on the offense in this game – something that was found lacking in the first four games. It immediately paid off Zagreb dominated the game throughout the first half of the
game - Zagreb were 15 points ahead by the end of the half.
Zalgiris however put up a massive fight back down the stretch and in a seesaw last quarter, the lead changed hands 11 times. Zagreb however had the last laugh.
Zalgiris coach Aleksandar Trifunovic was disappointed with the loss, which could now force them out of the tournament.
"We were soft this evening, we had some easy points in transition, but we always let the home team get back in the game. We allowed them to move the ball around our defense, especially when we had a big advantage. I don't want
to underestimate KK Zagreb, but this is a game we needed to win. I was honestly planning to have this win, but congratulations to coach Androic and Zagreb's players. We got into their rhythm; we would have wanted to run a lot more, play quicker and more transition
basketball."
Paulius Jankunas was the most outstanding player for Zalgiris. He recorded a double-double with 24 points, knocking down 12 from 16 shots from the free throw line, along with phenomenal 11 rebounds. He was supported well by Marko
Popovic and Milovan Rakovic who scored 11 and 10 points respectively. Unfortunately for the visitors though, their combined brilliance proved insufficient in the end.
Krunoslav Simon led the winning team with 22 points. However, the most important player on the night was Josh Heytwelt, who put up an all round show. Josh was exceptional on the paint and finished with 17 points and a team high
11 rebounds. Mario Kasun also chipped in with 11 points while Sean Gregory May added another 10 for the Croatians.
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