KK Zagreb edge out Zalgiris Kaunas 80-78 in a thriller - Euroleague Recap (Part 2)
KK Zagreb drew the first blood courtesy of Mario Kasun’s driving layup in the second minute however it was answered by two consecutive free throws from the other side. The game hung in balance in the minutes that followed and the
scores were levelled at 11 all in the 5th minute.
A layup in the next minute by Paulius Jankunas took Zalgiris ahead by 2 points but was countered by a three and a jumper by Zagreb’s Heytvelt.
Zalgiris however rattled off a 7-2 burst capped by a three by Tomas Delininkaitis and managed to get ahead by 4 points 20-16. Zagreb kept the visitors scoreless in the rest of the quarter though and finished the first ten minutes
trailing by only one, 21-20.
Both the big guns from Zagreb, Krunoslav Simon and Josh Heytvelt constituted a 7 point run early in the second quarter to take their team into a comfortable position. Other players from Zagreb joined in as well and scored in quick
succession to put the team in the driving seat as the lead mounted to 15 points in the 8th minute. However Zalgiris put up a good fight and pulled a 9 point run in the last two minutes to ensure they stay in the game. When the first half buzzer
rang, Zagreb were leading by 40-34.
The first 4 minutes of the third quarter belonged completely to Zalgiris as Milovan and Popovic scored in quick succession to get their team ahead. A three by Popovic in the 6th minute capped a 16-5 run as Zalgiris led
by 50-45. Simon Krunoslov kept fighting though and brought the scores close by the 8th minute. He then struck twice in the dying moments when Zalgiris’ lead had mounted to 6 points 60-54, to make it 57-60 by the end of the quarter.
Zagreb turned the tide early in the final frame and managed a 9-4 spurt to get ahead by 2 points 66-64. Both teams were neck to neck till the 7th minute as Simon’s three levelled the scores at 71 all. The scores were
tied again on three different instances as no team was willing to back off without a fight.
Eventually it was the two free throws in the dying minutes, that turned the game in Zagreb’s favour.
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