By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Chima Moneke scored 22 points and had nine rebounds, but Trent Forrest was the hero of the night with 15 points, including the winning shot for Baskonia.
Coach Pablo Laso’s team got the 88-86 win over Barcelona, improving to a 10-14 record, while Barcelona dropped to 13-11 in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Donta Hall, Kamar Baldwin, and Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot added 11 points each for the winners.
Still, the whole game was Forrest’s big shot.
“It was a good play drawn up by Coach, and I was just able to get to my spot and knock down the shot,” Forrest said after the game. “It feels good. We haven’t been on this side of these close games, so it’s good for us to finally be able to get a win.”
TRENT FORREST FOR THE WIN
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— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) January 30, 2025
“Why Trent? I think it was a situation in which we had to try to score close to the rim. Trent has a very good touch around the basket, and I thought it would be difficult that they helped,” Coach Laso explained.
Barcelona had seven players in double digits with Chimezie Metu scoring 14 and Kevin Punter adding 13, but still in the end couldn’t at least send the game to overtime.
Barcelona was missing Jan Vesely and Justin Anderson, while Baskonia had Tadas Sedekerskis on the active roster for the first time after his injury, even if ultimately he wasn’t used.
Forrest at the end
Barcelona had the lead for most of the first half, however couldn’t get a distance.
After 10 minutes of action, Baskonia trailed by two (25-23) and despite Barcelona’s 12-point lead (44-22), at halftime, the hosts were again down just by one basket (46-44), even with just 2/11 threes.
The dogfight continued with Baskonia taking a 56-54 lead after a three by Baldwin and entering the last period up by one (65-64).
Nothing changed until the end with Chima Moneke giving Baskonia a four-point cushion (86-82) with a three-pointer and 48 seconds on the clock.
Jabari Parker missed on the next possession for Barcelona and then Trent Forrest lost the ball. Juan Nunez scored for the guests (86-84), Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot made one more turnover for Baskonia, and with three seconds left Kevin Punter tied the score (86-86).
With the game on the line, Forrest made the biggest shot of the game with one second left and redeemed himself. Dario Brizuela had one last chance but couldn’t send the game to overtime.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague
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