By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Gabriel Deck scored all of his seven points in the second overtime lifting Real Madrid to the win, 90-84, over AS Monaco Friday evening.
A couple of French double-doubles, Guerschon Yabusele with 18 points and ten rebounds and Vincent Poirier with ten points and 14 rebounds, highlighted the dominating display in the paint for the Whites. The team coached by Pablo Laso committed 20 turnovers but countering with the 57-40 rebounding edge was key in upping its Turkish Airlines EuroLeague record to 18-3 with the seventh win in a row.
“I think we had control of the game in a lot of situations but we had too many turnovers and they were getting advantages from our mistakes, but we kept on fighting,” pointed out the winning head coach, “We were down at the end of regulation but were able to tie it. The first overtime we played hard, and I thought the second overtime we played good.”
Walter Tavares contributed eight points with a perfect shooting display, 3/3 two-pointers, to go along with six rebounds and four blocks, including one on Mike James to force a second extra period. Thomas Heurtel paired ten points with nine assists as the Regular Season Round 23 tight affair neared the 150-minute mark.
“It was a really tough game. We really wanted this one to go back home with the win,” said Yabusele, “They played good but we made the adjustments we needed to win.”
“We hit the tough shots and made good rebounds at the end, that’s what made the difference in the end on offense and defense,” added Poirier.
The EuroLeague and ACB leaders, scoring the 12th win in the last 13 games across all competitions, missed Nigel Williams-Goss (COVID-19), Adam Hanga (hamstring), and Fabien Causeur at Salle Gaston Medecin.
The hosts led by Sasa Obradovic saw their four-game winning streak in Europe’s premier club continental competition coming to an end after failing to convert the last possession in both the fourth quarter and first overtime, resulting in the 66-66 and 75-75 deadlocks, respectively.
Alpha Diallo and Dwayne Bacon sharing a game-high 19 points did not prevent the drop to 10-12. Danilo Andjusic had 14 points. James finished with 11 points limited to 2/12 field goals.
“It’s a bitter feeling, with smarter decisions at the end we could have won this game,” mentioned Obradovic after the second defeat in the last nine games across all competitions, “Congrats to my guys, we did a great job, but unfortunately we lost.”
A rough shooting night hurt the French team, besides being heavily outrebounded. Leo Westermann (thigh) and Donta Hall remained on the injury list. Rob Gray was sidelined as well.