By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade used a fourth-quarter rally to get past Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz with an 86-83 victory at home in their Round 28 meeting for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Luka Mitrovic posted a new EuroLeague season-high with 18 points, to go along with 5 assists to lead the efforts of the hosts, which now move up to an 11-15 record with their second consecutive victory.
Nate Wolters stepped up in the second half to contribute 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists for Zvezda. Austin Hollins tapped 12 points and Nikola Kalinic exited the game with 11 points.
Baskonia – which won their Round 10 game in Spain 93-74 – challenged Zvezda once again and even led the first quarter 26-13, yet run out of fuel when the game went down the wire to suffer its eighth consecutive defeat and drop to a 7-19 record.
“My assistant told me that we gave up 17 second-chance points, which is ridiculous for a serious EuroLeague team”, said Baskonia coach Neven Spahija after the game. “What can I say? Congrats to Zvezda. We will get back home to work and fix it.”
Simone Fontecchio posted 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead the Spanish team’s efforts, Wade Baldwin followed with 18 points, Jayson Granger had 15 points and 7 assists and Matthew Costello tapped 14 points and 6 rebounds.
Photo credit: EuroLeague