By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Crvena Zvezda got their revenge over Unicaja Malaga in Round 24 of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague at home with an 80-76 win.
With Taylor Rochestie nailing 13 points and dishing three assists in the first half, Zvezda built a small lead (40-37). The American point guard was the key for Zvezda’s win as he finished the game with 21 points and four assists followed by Milko Bjelica’s 13 points. The Serbian squad registered its tenth victory and both teams stayed in the playoff picture, as Unicaja also stands on a 10-14. Still, it’s a long way for both teams to reach that goal.
Thanks to a 7-0 run at the start of the second half, the hosts quickly build a double-digit lead (47-37). Bjelica woke up after a halftime break scoring 8 points in the third quarter after being scoreless in the first half.
Unicaja pushed for a comeback reducing the lead to three (65-62) midway through the last quarter. They came real close with 10 seconds left as they were trailing only by two (76-74), but Rochestie and Dejan Davidovac made their free throws and clinched the victory for Zvezda.
The home team took care of the ball much better than the visitors during the first half. Zvezda turned the ball only once in the first half while Unicaja had 10 turnovers in that period. Zvezda finished the game with four turnovers and the Spanish side had 11. This is the second time this season that Zvezda has just four turnovers. It has happened again in November against Baskonia.
Dragan Milosavljevic was off to a strong start scoring eight points in the first quarter for Unicaja. He finished the game with 12 points and 5 boards, but couldn’t prevent the loss.
Photo credit: Euroleague