By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz survived in Game 2 of the EuroLeague playoffs in Moscow and escaped with a 78-68 victory over hosts CSKA. The Spanish team tied the series and the momentum is now in their favor, as the next two games will take place in Vitoria, the host city of the 2019 Final Four.
It is a big achievement for Baskonia to get away with this victory, as they handed CSKA their first defeat in the playoffs at their homecourt since Olympiacos did in their 2008 series
It was a multi-player effort for Velmir Perasovic‘s squad, that had Shavon Shields and Darrun Hilliard leading the way with 15 and 16 points apiece.
At the same time, Vincent Poirier broke the single-season rebounds record (287) with his 15 boards in Moscow (he also posted 12 points for the winners).
As the French big man said after the game: “We were aggressive. We played great defense. We didn’t allow the [kinds of] baskets they made two days ago and I think today that made the difference. We are confident. We know it won’t be easy. They are a tough team; we know they can play really tough and win two games at Buesa, so we have to be really focused, stay humble and do the best we can.”
On the other side of the court, the hosts had Cory Higgins and Will Clyburn in double digits, with 15 and 14 points each, though the two couldn’t help the team get back in the game after Baskonia stormed the first half.
And Higgins expects CSKA to react in Game 3: “We didn’t play good. We gotta focus on the two games in Vitoria. We didn’t play aggressive enough, so we gotta change that and go win two games. It’s 1-1 and it’s a five-game series. We gotta make adjustments and win two more. The problem was we didn’t come focused enough. We didn’t come with enough fight.”