With their fans in the arena for the first time in half a year, Zalgiris Kaunas rewarded them with a hard-fought 81-74 victory over Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in Saturday's second semifinal of the WE'RE BACK PRESEASON TOUR.
Zalgiris will face AX Armani Exchange Milan in Sunday's championship game. Zalgiris led from tipoff to the final buzzer, but Panathinaikos came close at times, most notably at 59-56 early in the fourth quarter and 79-74 in the game's final minute before the hosts closed it out. Rokas Jokubaitis came off the bench to lead the winners with 16 points in under 18 minutes. Joffrey Lauvergne was everywhere with 15 points and 13 rebounds, while Marius Grigonis scored 14 and Thomas Walkup paired 13 points with 8 assists. Nemanja Nedovic drilled 22 points and Pierre Jackson 18 for Panathinaikos
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