By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Luca Vildoza put on a great shooting show which was pivotal in Baskonia’s 80-73 home win over Zalgiris on Round 24 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Vildoza shot 5-8 from deep on his way to 16 points. Shavon Shields scored 14 while Johannes Voigtmann and Vincent Poirier added 13 points each.
For Zalgiris, Brandon Davies scored 13 in addition to Deon Thompson and Marius Grigonis’ 11 points each.
Although it was a balanced game in the first 15 minutes and Zalgiris held the minimal lead (24-23), Baskonia led by Shields – who banked 11 points by halftime – made a 17-1 run to go ahead in double-digits at the break (40-25). Zalgiris just couldn’t find a proper offensive solution (7-24 from the field) and additionally turned the ball over ten times which the hosts used for some easy points.
“I think they were a little bit more solid than we were and I think at the end, the 15-0 run in the second quarter probably, unfortunately, decided the game for us”, Zalgiris coach Sarunas Jasikevicius noted.
The halftime talk helped the guests as they opened the third period with six straight points and eventually cut the gap to seven points (59-52) in front of the final period. Zalgiris showed strong comeback effort but whenever they came close, Vildoza would nail a triple to fend them off. He made three shots from behind the arc in the final period and it was enough for Baskonia to secure the win.
Coach Velimir Perasovic was happy that his team recorded an important win: “An interesting game for both teams. I think we managed to leave an important rival behind us now. After losing three games on the run, we gained an important victory tonight. We were worried about physical problems at the start, especially Janning but in the end, he played. That’s why I’m quite happy with this evening’s performance and we are still in the fight for Top 8.”
Baskonia improved to 12-12 and stayed inside the playoff zone while Zalgiris holds a 9-15 record and is below the line with six rounds remaining.