By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Baskonia managed to find their three-point groove in the second half and break Buducnost’s resistance for an 82-62 home win in Round 26 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Patricio Garino nailed game-high 16 points while Shavon Shields scored 12 in addition to Marcelino Huertas’ 13 points. Vincent Poirier and Johannes Voigtmann dominated the paint with 13 and ten rebounds respectively.
For Buducnost, Earl Clark flirted with a double-double by banking 13 points and nine rebounds while Norris Cole scored 15 points.
Neither team could find their groove from behind the arc as they shot 3-19 combined in the first half but Baskonia‘s pick and roll plays cut straight through Buducnost’s defense propelling them to a double-digit lead (27-15) early in the second quarter. However, the guests succeeded in closing the paint and cut the gap to five points (39-34) after Nemanja Gordic’s coast-to-coast before the halftime rest.
“In the first half, shooting very bad for three and controlling rebounds, letting them score in transition too much for this level. We continued suffering in defensive transition but first of all, they killed us on the board. Many times after offensive rebound, four if I remember correctly, they scored a three-point shot”, Buducnost coach Jasmin Repesa explained.
The second half kicked off rather balanced but Darrun Hilliard’s 3+1 late in the third quarter followed by Shields and Jalen Jones’ triples as well gave Baskonia a 17-point advantage (64-47) from which Buducnost couldn’t recover in the final ten minutes.
Baskonia coach Velimir Perasovic was content but warns a tough schedule awaits: “I think in the third quarter we broke the game open. We had energy, some players like Garino and Huertas were good, and we scored some open shots to get more than a 10-point advantage, and the game was finished. We have a very tough schedule until the end of season, against great teams. It will be very difficult to win every game. We have to go game by game and fight like everybody fights right now.”
Baskonia improved to 14-12 and stayed on track to the playoffs as they are in front of Greeks teams in Olympiacos and Panathinaikos (13-13 all) while Buducnost now holds a 6-20 record.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague