By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
With another great performance on both ends of the floor, Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz defeated Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Vitoria 90-79.
It was the 5th straight win of Baskonia which jumped to a 10-5 record, good enough at least for a tie just behind the top spot of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings.
Vanja Marinkovic erupted and led the Spanish team to their fifth win in a row with 22 points, shooting 5/8 from beyond the arch.
“I feel good. This is our ninth win in a row [in all competitions] and we are showing everyone in Spain and Europe that we are a good team and that we can fight for a place in the top eight”, Marinkovic said after the game.
Maik Kotsar added 12 points, Tadas Sedekerskis also and Steven Enoch scored 10 points, as Baskonia is entering the playoffs race and can hope for even more.
“It’s an important game for us, it’s our 10th victory in the EuroLeague”, admitted coach Joan Penarroya. “We played well, we made 31 assists – 31 assists is important. In the second half, we had problems against [Marco] Belinelli and [Niccolo] Mannion in moments – they’re very good players with a lot of talent. At this moment we had problems with our defense, but I think today we played a good game”.
Virtus fell to 6-9, as Tornike Shengelia scored 15 points. Marco Belinelli followed him with 13, while Nico Mannion added 11.
After a tough first quarter, Baskonia made a big 11-0 run midway through the second and grabbed a 36-21 lead. Virtus couldn’t respond, and the teams went on the break with the hosts having a 14-point lead (45-31).
Joan Penarroya’s team even got a 20-point advantage in the third period, but Virtus remained hopeful after eight straight points to close it to 63-51.
Sergio Scariolo’s team ever trimmed the deficit to six points, and it seemed that the game will go into a dramatic finish, but, Baskonia stayed calm, pushed the guests back, and regained a double-digit lead. It was all over at Fernando Buesa Arena.
“Congrats to Baskonia, they definitely played more aggressively than us. We had a good first, but a terrible second quarter, with misses underneath, turnovers… The third and fourth quarters were equal, but we can’t allow the home team, pushed by his fans, to play easy and to get that advantage, that was crucial“, Scariolo said after the game with his team dropping to 6-9.