The Lithuanian giant broke records in points scored and margin of victory with a blistering performance
Zalgiris sets double club record in demolishing Partizan
Rapport de match
3 Minute de lecture
Regular Season
Round 17 of 38
Regular Season
Zalgiris KaunasZAL
10968
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
Overview
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Zalgiris Kaunas bounced back in style from a pair of bruising home defeats with a comprehensive 109-68 drubbing of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, which completed a miserable week for the Serbian side after a 68-86 home loss by Virtus Bologna in the previous round.
Apart from improving to 10-7, Zalgiris set new EuroLeague club records in points scored and margin of victory on the back of a flawless performance which had Partizan (6-11) on the back foot from the start.
Big man Moses Wright took full advantage of the absence of injured Partizan center Tyrique Jones, toying with his markers in the paint at both ends to rack up 17 points and 6 boards, while Sylvain Francisco topped the scoring again with a game-high 22 points.
Having lost to Anadolu Efes Istanbul 64-87 in Round 16 after going down to Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 65-83 in Round 14 on home court, Zalgiris was under pressure to deliver and responded superbly as the hosts dished out 26 assists and collected 41 rebounds.
Zalgiris also shot an impressive 34-of-46 (73.9% 2FG) from inside and a solid 9-of-22 (40.9% 3FG) from downtown, leaving Partizan trailing in the home team’s wake throughout.
“I want to thank my teammates, my family and everybody close to me for this one,” a delighted Wright said in his post-game comments. “It was fun and I felt like the crowd was into the game from the tipoff and when we have them behind us we can do anything. We have a big game coming up against Panathinaikos, so this huge win should keep the momentum going.”
Head coach Tomas Masiulis highlighted that aggressive defense set Zalgiris on its way from the off. “We gave (Partizan) nothing for free and we committed some smart fouls,” he said. “Every win in the EuroLeague means a lot to me and I am happy that our fans kept supporting us after we played really bad in the previous two games.”
Apart from Francisco and Wright, Ignas Brazdeikis was also instrumental for Zalgiris as he pulled the strings at both ends having chipped in with 15 points, 3 boards and 2 assists. Nigel Williams-Goss netted 12 points and Laurynas Birutis added 11, including a pair of big dunks which put the icing on the cake in the final minute.
“This is a huge one for us as we lost a couple of games at home, so this one was for the fans,” Brazdeikis said. “We needed to show fight and spirit, compete harder than the other team, and that’s what we did. We always said that we had to stay together through the hard times and the good times, always working as a team.”
Having briefly revived its campaign with a pair of successive wins after head coach Zeljko Obradovic stepped down to make way for interim replacement Mirko Ocokoljic, Partizan has been cut down to size with another crisis looming after a couple of shambolic performances.
“We need to get home and sit down all together, not just the players but also the people running the club,” a grim-looking Ocokoljic said. “We need to analyze what to do next because this was unacceptable. It was perhaps my fault too for thinking that the players would do a better job tonight but obviously they weren’t ready to compete.”
The outcome also spelled the most points conceded by Partizan in a EuroLeague game and the club’s second-heaviest defeat in the competition, only behind the 42-point defeat (88-46) it suffered at CSKA Moscow in the 2013-14 season.
