By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Markus Howard had a night to remember with 35 points on 8/13 threes, Chima Moneke added 19 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists and LDLC ASVEL didn’t have enough answers.
Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz got its fourth straight win after the return of coach Dusko Ivanovic with the final score being 88-81.
The 35 points are a new career high for Howard, after registering 33 last December. “Really proud of the guys how they finished, and how we are stacking wins,” he reacted to extending the winning streak.
Matt Costello contributed 16 points for the winning side, while ASVEL got 22 points by Mike Scott and 16 plus nine rebounds by Joffrey Lauvergne.
A game decided in the last five minutes
ASVEL set the tone early, getting a 27-14 lead after a shot by Scott who already had 12 points.
The halftime score was 49-42 with 14 points by Howard and 10 by Moneke.
Howard continued his crescendo scoring 29 points until the end of the third period with Baskonia leading by eight (73-65) and coach Gianmarco Pozzecco getting ejected with a second technical foul.
Coach Pozzecco EJECTED #EuroLeague pic.twitter.com/g3ydjfZyPB
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) November 17, 2023
ASVEL didn’t back down and started the last quarter with a 6-0 run trimming the lead to two (73-71) and tying the score at 76 with five minutes left.
However, Howard couldn’t be denied, the game ended with a 12-5 run for the guests and Baskonia claimed a 5-4 record, while ASVEL dropped to 2-7.
“The whole time I genuinely believed we will come back and win the game,” said Moneke after piling up a game-high PIR of 35.