By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The motto “character Baskonia” is well known and was proven beyond any doubt this time.
Baskonia beat Paris Basket 94-81 and got into a tie with Partizan at 8-10, while the French side dropped from the top of the standings with an 11-6 record, having played one game less.
Chima Moneke with 29 points plus 10 rebounds and Markus Howard with 28 on 6/10 threes led the comeback from a game that seemed lost after the first half when Baskonia trailed even by 19 points (57-38).
While all seemed lost after the first half, Baskonia found a way in the fourth quarter to turn things around.
As Howard said in his post-game interview: “Continuing to fight. We’re a team that shows it, but we have to continue to do it more consistently. If we fight, we can compete against everybody”.
Nadir Hifi with 16 points and TJ Shorts with 14 tried their best for Paris, which proved to be out of gas in the last period.
An impressive comeback
Baskonia opened the night leading 16-11 with Chima Moneke scoring 11 points in the first five minutes.
Still, at the end of the first period, Paris was trailing just by two points (28-26) picking up the pace and taking a 34-28 lead with eight unanswered points at the start of the second quarter.
That was just the start, as the guests closed the first half with a 16-point advantage (57-41) after a 31-13 score in the second quarter. Baskonia simply couldn’t outrun the fastest-paced team in Europe.
Still, the hosts turned things around, starting the third period with a 9-3 partial scoring, making it a 10-point game (60-50) and then trimming the lead to seven points (65-58) after a three by Moneke.
Paris kept their distance and closed the quarter leading by eight (72-64) keeping their distance. Howard continued Baskonia’s push with a three to make it a five-point game (72-67) at the start of the fourth period and that was a sign for things to come.
Baskonia took the 77-74 lead with a 13-2 partial score and never looked back, as Paris suddenly collapsed and TJ Shorts couldn’t save the day this time.
Photo credit: EuroLeague