Zalgiris Kaunas delivered a dominant performance on Thursday night, overwhelming LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 96–59 at Zalgiris Arena to match the club’s largest EuroLeague victory margin.
ASVEL’s Nando De Colo opened the game by recording his 368th career steal, moving into fourth place on the all-time EuroLeague list. However, it turned out to be one of the few bright moments for the French side, which fell to 2–6 after its fourth straight road defeat.
Zalgiris (6–2) broke the game open late in the first quarter, leading 26–15 after 10 minutes and extending the gap to 15 by halftime. By the end of the third quarter, the lead had ballooned to 29 as Zalgiris controlled every facet of the game.
Sylvain Francisco led the Lithuanian champions with 15 points and 7 assists in just under 19 minutes, while Moses Wright added 14 points and 7 rebounds. Both players set the tone early with aggressive play on both ends of the floor.
Teenager Kajus Mikalauskas made his EuroLeague debut and impressed with 5 points, 5 assists, and 2 steals in 10 minutes, sparking a first-quarter run that energized the home crowd. Mantas Rubstavicius also made a statement off the bench, scoring 8 points, including a highlight-reel dunk late in the fourth quarter.
Deividas Sirvydis continued his consistent stretch, scoring 10 points with 4 rebounds and 2 steals, marking his third consecutive double-digit outing. Meanwhile, Arnas Butkevicius provided steady defense as Zalgiris held ASVEL to just 39% shooting inside the arc and 20.7% from three-point range.
Zalgiris outshot ASVEL from every distance, finishing 69.4% on two-pointers, 52.9% from deep, and 79.2% at the line. The Lithuanian side also won the rebounding battle 39–29 and dished out 25 assists compared to ASVEL’s 15.
Glynn Watson was the team’s top scorer with 14 points, while veteran forward David Lighty followed with 7. Zach Seljaas finished with 8 points and three assists.
With the victory, Zalgiris improved to 6–2, tying league leader Hapoel Tel Aviv in the win column. The Kaunas side will next face Valencia at home next Friday, while ASVEL travels to Istanbul to play defending champion Fenerbahce in Round 9.
