By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda survived Real Madrid’s push in the second half to prevail over with a 65-62 victory at home, their third straight in Belgrade, for their Round 20 makeup game in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
After trailing by 8 points in the second period, Real trimmed the deficit to one point by the end of the third quarter (43-42), though a collective effort of the home team in the final period put them back on track. Sergio Llull hit back-to-back threes in the final minutes to keep Real alive in the game, although a foul on Nikola Ivanovic resulted in a pair of free throws that determined the final result for Zvezda.
Ivanovic and Dejan Davidovac paced the efforts of Zvezda with 13 points each, Nate Wolters tapped 12 points and 4 rebounds and Ogjnen Dobric followed with 9 points as the Serbian side climbs up the standings to improve to a 12-15 record.
Llull led all scorers of the game with a 20-point performance for Real, while big man Walter Tavares posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Real has lost its third game in a row to drop to 20-7, yet remains in the second place of the standings.
Photo credit: EuroLeague