By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Markus Howard scored 36 points on 8-15 triples to lead Baskonia past bottom-placed Palencia 101 – 85 on the road in a game for Round 31 of the Spanish ACB League. This was the fourth time over the last seven ACB rounds in which Howard registered a 36+ performance.
Howard also drained a key 3-pointer to make it 89 – 96 with 2:26 to play to halt a 0 – 10 run and comeback effort by Palencia from down 79 – 93 halfway through the fourth period. Vanja Marinkovic had five points in the last two minutes to help Baskonia secure the win.
Marinkovic finished with 14 points while Tadas Sedekerskis contributed 23 points plus 12 rebounds to Baskonia’s win. Matt Costello scored 14 as the Basque side improved to 17 – 14 to continue its push toward securing a spot in the playoffs.
Anzejs Pasecniks (20 points, six rebounds) and Vitor Benite (19 points) stood out from Palencia, now 5- 25.
Baskonia will be hosting Real Madrid in Game 3 of the EuroLeague playoffs on Wednesday (1/5). The Blancos lead 2 -0 in the best-of-five series.