By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The duo of Matt Janning and Marcelinho Huertas worked some of its magic in the second half against Barcelona to help Baskonia win 85 – 79 and take a 2-0 advantage in the ACB best-of-five semifinals series.
With his team down 53 – 58 in the mid of the third period, Janning “erupted” with 11 points and a flurry of three 3-pointers to put Baskonia ahead 64 – 63. Huertas took the torch from his teammate in the fourth period with six points in a span of four minutes to hand the Basques an 80 – 73 lead with 3:44 remaining.
Barcelona, that had a double-digit lead (38-48) at halftime, looked out of juice down the stretch and was unable to fully recover from this deficit. With 53 seconds remaining, Janning’s pair of free throws for the 85 – 78 sealed the fate of the game.
Janning finished with 19 points while Huertas contributed 15 points plus four assists. Rodrigue Beaubois and Tornike Shengelia added 12 points apiece. The latter also had seven rebounds.
Adrien Moerman had 18 points, Adam Hanga 13 plus five rebounds and Ante Tomic 12 and five boards as well for Barcelona that will have to play a do-or-die Game 3 on Friday (8/6).