By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Baskonia ended the week of double action on a high note, defending homework against Maccabi.
The hosts got the 89-82 win behind 20 points by Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, while Chima Moneke scored all his 18 points in the first half and Markus Howard added 17.
“We stayed together the whole game, stuck to the gameplan and despite Maccabi giving a push in the end, we stayed focused and got a very good victory”, said Luwawu-Cabarrot after the final buzzer.
Baskonia coach Pablo Laso added: “The only thing I didn’t like was that we thought the game was finished too early. We have to give credit to Maccabi for that”.
With an 11-15 record, Baskonia still has slim hopes for the postseason, while Maccabi with 6-20 is all but eliminated.
Romain Sorkin with 16 points was the top scorer of Maccabi.
A fight in the end
Maccabi opened the game leading 23-22 after the first quarter, but Baskonia turned the tables quickly with Moneke scoring in total 18 points in the first half.
The hosts were up by 10 (44-34) after a shot by Nikos Rogkavopoulos and had a nine-point halftime advantage (51-42).
In the second half, Baskonia kept the same momentum closing the period up by 14 (73-59) as Markus Howard and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot both reached the 15-point mark.
The lead extended the 17 points (78-61) by Kamar Baldwin at the start of the fourth quarter.
Maccabi didn’t back down and trimmed the lead to six (85-79) with three minutes left in the game. Still, they couldn’t get closer than that and Baskonia got the win.
Photo credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague