By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Although Kirolbet Baskonia was ahead in front of the final period, Kevin Pangos nailed 13 clutch points and led Barcelona Lassa to a 77-70 road win in Round 14 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Pangos scored 16 points in total while Kevin Seraphin followed with 14 in addition to Thomas Heurtel’s 11 points. For Baskonia, Matt Janning nailed game-high 19 points and Luca Vildoza added 12.
Pangos wanted this win badly and, in the end, he was the one to deliver it: “It was good. It has been an up-and-down year for our team, myself included. I just wanted to get the win really badly today, and I think that our team responded.”
Barcelona had an upper hand in the first quarter (19-16) mostly thanks to Seraphin’s presence in the paint while Baskonia stayed close thanks to the four shots from behind the arc, all made by different players. Interestingly, they didn’t attempt any two-pointers for the first eight minutes of the game.
The playstyle of both squads balanced out in the second period but Barca still held a small 42-39 lead at halftime, primarily because of a few easy fast break points off home players’ turnovers.
Both teams put on steel defense after the break but Barcelona made it even harder for themselves by missing a lot of open shots. They scored only seven points in the third quarter compared to Baskonia’s 16 and the hosts went ahead 55-49 in front of the final ten minutes. However, Barca took over in the last quarter led by Kevin Pangos and came out on top in the end.
“We had problems early with turnovers and with offensive rebounds throughout the whole game. They had a lot [rebounds] and the final quarter decided the game”, Baskonia coach Velimir Perasovic explained.
Barcelona improved to 7-7 while Baskonia now holds a 6-8 record.