By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA‘s undefeated route almost burned at the stake against feisty Zalgiris, though the Russians grabbed the 99-97 overtime victory in Moscow for Round 8 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, pushing their visitors to a 3-5 record.
Victory-hungry Sergio Rodriguez was the catalyst for Dimitris Itoudis’ team, as he posted a 24-point performance with six out of ten from the three-point line, not far behind from another incredible 23-point feast by Will Clyburn.
“We had an amazing performance from individuals; for sure Chacho [Rodriguez] showed us the way, Will [Clyburn], Cory [Higgins] and everybody over there. Joel [Bolomboy] when he came in. So that’s a team victory. It’s a good example for us to work more and more”, commented coach Itoudis in his post-game quotes.
Despite the friendly atmosphere prior to the game, as Itoudis and Jasikevicius joked about the infamous camera incident, on court things turned out to be as competitive as they could be, with both teams striving for the victory.
The Lithuanians started getting better on the offensive end in the second half and managed to hold their ground, until Rodriguez took charge with 8 consecutive points in the course of a minute, leading the game to the extra five-minute period. Things turned out to be even more spectacular, as both teams exchanged the lead and with 38 seconds to go, the game nearly went to a second overtime if it wasn’t for a pair of successful FTs made by Clyburn.
Zalgiris will now have to bounce back and get its first homecourt victory of the season on Friday, against Khimki.