The guard delivered one hammer blow after another with a series of clutch shots against Crvena Zvezda
Sylvain Francisco fired on all cylinders to lift Zalgiris
Article
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 27 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Zalgiris Kaunas ground out a lifeline 80-86 victory at Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade to keep alive its hopes of squeezing into the business end of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague postseason, with a bid to the next phase no longer a distant dream for the Lithuanian champs.
The visitors thrived on an outstanding performance from Sylvain Francisco, who sank a game-high 25 points as he made a series of long-range efforts that kept Zalgiris in the driver’s seat of a thrilling contest.
Francisco made the most of his speed and ball-handling skills to create space for himself as he shot 6 of 9 from deep and 5 of 5 from the foul line, adding 6 boards and 4 assists to complement a valiant solo effort backed by some rock-solid teamwork.
“This is the team of Zalgiris,” a delighted Francisco said courtside in his postgame comments. “We played hard and executed pretty well on offense, but most importantly we made two or three stops when we needed to. I was able to make shots as the defenders gave me some space and then I was also happy to facilitate my team by driving through into the paint.”
Zalgiris head coach Andrea Trinchieri heaped praise on his outfit, having singled out Francisco while he also stressed that the supporting cast’s role was essential in forcing Zvezda into submission. Having won four of their previous five games in Europe’s premier club competition, Zvezda was a firm favorite to come out on top as Zalgiris had lost four of their previous five in what has been a patchy season for the Lithuanian champions.
However, ironclad defense limited Zvezda’s top performer Filip Petrusev to just 6 points in the last three quarters after the forward scored 10 in the opening period to give Zalgiris the edge.
“I am extremely proud how we played against one of the hottest teams at the moment,” the Italian tactician told the postgame press conference. “The character, personality and fighting spirit were there from start to finish and we can now keep chasing our dream of making the postseason. We knew it was going to be tough but I also expected us to produce a superb performance.
“I reckon we deserved to win and we pulled it off thanks to an outstanding Francisco as well as on the back of hard work by everybody else. The whole team was fantastic and we’re now looking forward to taking it one game at a time for the remainder of the regular season.”
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Big man Alen Smailagic was one of the unsung heroes for Zalgiris, as he was faultless from the floor in pouring 15 points and made it no secret that being a former player of Zvezda’s bitter archrival Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade brought the best in him.
“The name Red Star was my motivation tonight,” he said. “We did everything that needed to be done to win. We’ve had ups and downs this season just like we’ve had them in tonight’s game. We are still in with a chance [to reach the postseason] so we’re going to keep on fighting relentlessly.”