By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A solid run down the stretch was all that Crvena Zvezda needed to beat Zalgiris Kaunas 73 – 61 at home and register its second consecutive win in EuroLeague.
With the score 60-58, Red Star went on to hit eight unanswered points that handed them a 10-point advantage with 1:11 left. There was no turning back from that margin and Zalgiris couldn’t combine coach Jure Zdovc’s debut with a victory.
They are now 0-3.
Nikola Kalinic scored 13 out of his game-high 15 points in the second half while grabbing five rebounds to pace Zvezda. He dropped four points in a row during the decisive 8-0 run and heard the fans shouting “Kalina-Kalina” after seeing one of their favorites making his EuroLeague return to the team in style.
Zvezda wants to build on the 2-1 start of the season despite having injury woes, as coach Dejan Radonjic said after the game: “It’s an important win for us, especially at this moment with all our problems. A very tough game from the beginning till the end of the game. Our defense was good almost all 40 minutes, but offensively we were much better in the second half. Like I said at halftime for us, it will be very important for us to play much better on offense and we did. Congratulations to my players.”
Josh Nebo had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Zalgiris in his best game yet with the Lithuanian side. His team led 25 – 27 near the end of the second half and managed to keep close after their opponents gained the lead.
As Zdovc commented after the match though, “The game is 40 minutes, not 38. Actually, we played good. We were behind 2-3 points, but we lost the momentum and they took the momentum.”
Ognjen Dobric added 13 points to help Zvezda win while Luka Mitrovic finished with 12 points plus seven rebounds.
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball