Kuzminskas, Lafayette lead Zalgiris to a road win in Malaga

Zalgiris Kaunas rejoined the race to reach the playoffs in Top 16 Group E by topping Unicaja Malaga 67-83 in Spain on Friday. Unicaja and Zalgiris are tied for fifth place in Group E, each with a 4-5 record. Mindaugas Kuzminskas paced the winners with 15 points. Oliver Lafayette added 14 for Zalgiris, all of them in the second half. Krunoslav Simon led Unicaja with 13 points. Luka Zoric added 12 and Sergi Vidal had 10 for the hosts. Unicaja shined early, as Simon and Zoric allowed the hosts to get a 17-7 margin. Darjus Lavrinovic and Rimas Kaukenas stepped up to bring Zalgiris within 19-16 after 10 minutes. Zalgiris found a new go-to guy in Kuzminskas, who led a 0-10 run that put the guests back ahead, 24-26. He got some help from Tremmell Darden to boost the guests' margin to 31-38 at halftime. Simon and Marcus Williams brought Unicaja within 47-49, but Mario Delas and an outstanding Lafayette allowed Zalgiris to stay ahead, 56-59, after 30 minutes. A 0-10 run that Kuzminskas capped with a dunk sealed the outcome, 58-69, midway through the fourth quarter. Unicaja kept trying but Zalgiris cruised to a very important road win. Before the opening tip, a moment of silence was observed in memory of Malaga-born sportswriter Paco Rengel, who passed away recently.