Baskonia loses against Zalgiris and continues its bad start to the Euroleague (82-99)
Baskoniak irakurri: Baskoniak Zalgirisen aurka galdu du eta jarraipena eman dio Euroligako hasiera kaskarrari (82-99)
He Baskonia has suffered its third defeat in the Euroleague after lose this Thursday against Zalgiris Kaunas by 82-99. The Vitorian team could not withstand the solidity of the Baltics, who took the victory at the Buesa Arena and showed themselves superior from start to finish.
It took Baskonia three minutes to score the first basketbut he closed his ring well so that the Lithuanians did not open a gap. Markus Howard He needed three shots to score his first triple in a start in which the locals lost interior power with the second personal foul of Chima Moneke and with the Khalifa Diop out due to back discomfort.
Keenan Evans came into action to keep his team ahead, while the Basques struggled to score and were punished by the speed of the Baltics who led the first round by 14-22.
A 0-8 At the start of the second period they launched Zalgiris. But Baskonia sharpened their aim and returned to the game with two consecutive triples that cushioned their rival’s blow (25-38, min. 15). Markus Howard went into action and with 10 almost consecutive points He reactivated his team, which gave a 12-0 to the Lithuanians to return to the game.
Zalgiris reacted before the break and managed to go ahead to the locker room, 39-46.
Howard continued to monopolize the ball in the third quarter in a team that went one against one to resolve its attacks and once again had trouble keeping up with Zalgiris (44-62).
A visitor’s triple put the ball in the way again, which kept them in the lead with ten minutes remaining (61-74). But a three-pointer by Chima Moneke and an unsportsmanlike attack on Ulanovas got Baskonia into the game, 75-80 with 5.44 left.
In the end, Zalgiris controlled the match and closed the duel with a three-pointer from Giedraitis two minutes from the end that ended with a bigger blow, 82-99.
Data sheet
82 – Baskonia (14+25+22+21): Miller-McIntyre (7), Howard (26), Sedekerskis (6), Moneke (32) and Costello (1) -starting five-, Mannion (2), Díez (2), Rogkavopoulos (4), Marinkovic (- ) and Kotsar (2).
99 – Zalgiris Kaunas (22+24+28+25): Evans (14), Dimsa (13), Ulanovas (2), Smits (19) and Hayes (2) -starting five-, Mitrou-Long (9), Birutis (6), Giedraitis (13), Butkevicius (2 ), Manek (17), Lavrinovicius (2).
Referees: Piotr Pastusiak (Poland), Marcin Kowalski (Poland), and Adar Peer (Israel). They eliminated the local Moneke due to personal fouls (min.39).
Source: Eitb
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