By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Baskonia got back on winning track in EuroLeague and increased its record to 6 – 4 by beating Galatasaray 69 – 62 in Vitoria. The Turkish team was forced to its sixth defeat in the season and now has the second worst record (3-6) in the competition.
It was a match that won’t be remembered much for its quality, since both teams were offensively sloppy, particularly from downtown (4/19 and 5/29 for Baskonia and Galatasaray respectively).
Hence the low output even by the top scorers of each team. Johannes Voigtmann and Rodrigue Beaubois paced the Basques with 13 points each, while Tibor Pleiss dropped 16 and Blake Schilb 15 for the losing side.
What ultimately won the battle for the Basques was the increased amounts of energy they poured on the floor during the last 15 minutes.
After Schilb’s baskets put Galatasaray ahead 38 – 40 in the beginning of the third period, coach Alonso’s players reacted quickly and began building an advantage which reached double-digit numbers, 62 – 52, four minutes into the final period.
The “Cimbom” had already made an almost extreme effort to come back in the game after a horrid 22 – 9 start and make it a close situation at halftime (36-32), thus near they end they looked void of fuel. Since their opponents possessed neither the strength nor the skill to recover from a double-digit deficit once again, the players of Baskonia always remained one step ahead.
Vladimir Micov’s jumper for the 65 – 62 with a bit one minute to go, just looked like a swansong, since Beaubois responded with a 4-0 showing that his team wasn’t keen on going down.