Sonny Weems gave Ty Lawson a perfect send-off as his 18 points inspired Zalgiris to a 67-65 success over Unicaja Malaga.

 

 

Lawson, who will now return to Denver Nuggets due to the end of the NBA lockout ended his stay in Kaunas with 10 points and three assists.

Weems, who added 11 rebounds to his stat line, won the game for Zalgiris with baseline dunk. Kristaps Valters had a chance to win it for Unicaja but missed the target.

“I am really happy for this victory,” Weems said afterwards. “Hopefully it will be the start of a winning streak.

“It was not anything special. I was just being myself. Unicaja rallied like any good team will.”

This win is a welcome turnaround of fortunes for the Lithuanian side, who have had a troubled Euroleague campaign thus far. They move to 2-5, and are still in the race to qualify for the top 16.

Unicaja Malaga drop to 3-4, but play two of their last three games at home. They were led by Gerald Fitch’s 15 points. Valters and Joel Freeland each added 12.

CSKA Moscow kept their unbeaten run going, but were pushed to the limit by Brose Baskets in Germany. A Milos Teodosic three at the buzzer gave the Euroleague favourites an 81-78 victory.

Despite leading for the majority of the game, CSKA could never shake off the hosts and build on their lead.

Anthony Tucker then gave Brose Baskets the lead with a minute remaining, which was responded by a free-throw by Nenad Krstic, who tied the game at 78.

The stage was then set for Teodosic.

Krstic led CSKA Moscow with 20 points, Marcus Slaughter led all scorers with 21 for Brose.

Elsewhere, there was a much needed road win for Anadolu Efes as they defeated Belgacom Spirou 66-62, thanks to 16 points from Dusko Savanovic.

That win improves Anadolu Efes to 4-3 as they get a measure of revenge for their defeat to Spirou in Istanbul earlier in the round.

Panathinaikos booked their place in the top 16 as the holders brushed aside KK Zagreb 94-76 at the OAKA.

Mike Batiste led Panathinaikos with 18 points as five players hit double-digits. Damir Mulaomerovic led Zagreb with 18 points also.

There was also a win for Gescrap Bilbao as they beat SLUC Nancy 97-75.

Nancy, who are now without Nicholas Batum due to the end of the NBA lockout struggled throughout as Bilbao picked up an easy win. Alex Mumbru led the way with 15 points.