By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Elie Okobo scored nine out of his game-high 22 points in the fourth period, including the go-ahead basket, to lead AS Monaco past Baskonia 79 – 74 and back to wins in the EuroLeague.
The Monegasque side finished the game with an 11-4 run over the last 3:35 minutes to get the victory.
“It was a great team effort,” Okobo said. “We wanted to defend [our] home court. It was a really difficult game. We didn’t give up and all 12 guys brought something tonight. In the end, we were locked in and were able to control the game, and we made stops with a lot of hustle plays and were able to score at the other end.”
Okobo hit the triple to tie the score at 71 with 2:39 to play and cap a Monaco comeback from down eight (53-61) late in the third quarter. Alpha Diallo snatched the ball from Markus Howard on the other end and sent the ball to Okobo who hit the layup to put his team ahead 73 – 71.
After Monaco went up by four, Darius Thompson got Baskonia close 77 – 74 with 14 seconds remaining but Loyd made a pair of free throws to secure his team’s win.
In his best game with Baskonia after his return to the team, Pierria Henry had 17 points plus seven assists. Thompson added 13 points and Matt Costello posted 12 points plus nine rebounds for the visiting side that fell apart in the last decisive minutes after leading almost for the entire second half. Baskonia fell to 4-4 after its second straight loss.
“[We showed] great character at the end,” Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic said. “We had great teamwork. I am pretty satisfied. Okay, there were some ups and downs during the game, but we expected a hard opponent and that was exactly what they were. In the EuroLeague, everyone is competitive. It’s gonna be like this the whole year.”
Apart from Okobo, Loyd scored 12 and Donatas Motiejunas had 11 points. Mike James finished with 10 points (on 3-10 shots) plus seven assists.