By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Despite playing practically with nine players due to injuries, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz got a crucial home win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
Markus Howard with 26 points, Chima Moneke with 15, and Vanja Marinkovic with 14 led a balanced effort on the way to a 92-82 win.
“We missed a couple of guys due to injuries, but so many guys stepped up, especially Maik (Kotsar) being our only big man, he played huge out there with really big minutes”, said Howard after the game about his teammate who had 10 points and nine rebounds.
It was a game of runs, but after the end of the second period, Maccabi couldn’t get into sticking distance.
Wade Baldwin with 25 points and six assists was the top scorer of the losing side, which simply couldn’t contain the team of coach Dusko Ivanovic.
As a result, the two teams are now tied with a 13-12 record and Baskonia has the tie-breaker after losing 89-81 on the road against Maccabi.
This created also a minor controversy with Baldwin having the last shot of the game, missing it, and getting into the referee’s face asking for a foul.
Damn… A furious Wade Baldwin got into the referee's face at the end of Maccabi's loss to Baskonia pic.twitter.com/d9krzDim0J
— Antonis Stroggylakis (@AStroggylakis) February 1, 2024
It was the play that decided the tie breaker.
Firing at will
Howard with 18 points in the second period led the charge in the first half, as Baskonia built a 54-41 lead, despite trailing 26-20 after the first quarter.
However, Maccabi managed to trim the lead to seven (54-47) at halftime with Baldwin already having 19 points and four assists.
The second half started with an 8-0 run (62-47) and Baskonia led even by 19 (73-54) seemingly finishing the game.
However, Maccabi trailed by 10 (73-63) at the end of the third and an 11-0 run made it an 8-point game (74-65) at the start of the fourth period.
In the most crucial moment of the game, Baskonia got some crucial shots from Nikos Rogkavopoulos, Moneke, and Marinkovic, pushing the lead back to 15 (87-72), practically deciding the outcome.
“We came back but it was too late, we made too many mistakes and we didn’t deserve to win this game”, admitted Maccabi coach Oded Kattash.
“It was a great game, we fought until the end and we had patience on defense”, added Baskonia coach Dusko Ivanovic.