By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas had the extra motive to send off the club legend Paulius Jankunas with a win in his last Euroleague game and they made it happen with 103-98 after overtime, despite Crvena Zvezda turning the tables and having the win within its grasp.
Zvezda was the first team to make a comeback from down 15 (45-30) in the first half. They also had a five-point lead (87-82) with 15 seconds left after a barrage of three-pointers when it was crucial, led by Dejan Davidovac who also delivered on defense.
However, Arturas Milaknis gave the hosts a chance with a three and then Tyler Cavanaugh followed with one of his own at the buzzer, after doing everything perfectly during the play, scaringly calm and collected.
.@tycav34 with the triple to FORCE OT! #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/tAGwPAWKyz
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 3, 2022
He paved the way for the perfect ending that Jankunas delivered. He scored eight points in the overtime to hand Zalgiris the win, after scoring five in regular time.
And Jankunas was happy in the end.
“I feel good. We won. We won at home. My last game in EuroLeague in the gym, in front of the fans was here. A lot of fans. I want to thank them I play for them. We play for the, I am very happy that there were a lot of fans today. I tried to stay calm because I felt the atmosphere was different. I got a lot of text messages and my friends were calling me, but I tried to stay calm and prepare for the game as always.”
Edgaras Ulanovas scored 18 for Zalgiris followed by Lukas Lekavicius with 17 and Josh Nebo with 16. Cavanaugh finished with 12 points as Zalgiris finishes the season in Euroleague with an 8-20 record.
For Zvezda, Ognjen Dobric banked in game-high 21 points while Davidovac had 18 and Stefan Markovic 14 points.
Photo Credit: Zalgiris Kaunas