The Basque side confirmed its spot in the postseason with a victory in Round 33
Baskonia stars delighted with play-in-clinching win at Real Madrid
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Regular Season
Round 33 of 34
Group Regular Season
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After inspiring his team to a stunning 91-95 comeback victory at Real Madrid, securing a play-in place in the process, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz scoring star Markus Howard piled praise upon his teammates for their mental fortitude.
“I'm so proud of our team," said Howard, who scored 35 points on 7-of-12 three-point shooting, also holding his nerve from the free-throw line in the tense latter stages to convert 8 of his 9 foul shots.
“We're playing for something. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year, and you’ve got to give our coach [Dusko Ivanovic], but also all the guys in that locker room, a lot of credit. We've stayed together, stayed resilient, so this is for all the people in Baskonia.”
The Basque club’s next target is to gain two chances to progress through the play-in by finishing in the top eight, which can be achieved by winning its regular-season finale next week against direct rival Virtus Segafredo Bologna.
Baskonia is unafraid and confident
And Howard emphasized that Friday’s victory in Madrid won’t be celebrated for too long as he added: “We're happy to win this one but we know there’s so much more ahead and we won’t take anything for granted.
“If we play with the right attitude, the right mindset, we can compete with anybody. We’re going to use a game like tonight to build off, continue to grow, continue to rely on each other. When we’re together, like we were tonight, we can compete with anybody.”
Teammate Matt Costello, who provided 19 points including 13 in the decisive last 15 minutes, echoed the same sentiments as he added: “We just came together and pushed through a little adversity.
“They started out super-hot, hitting everything, and we had a lot of turnovers. Normally we’ve folded in those situations but today we played through it. Markus went nuts, that always helps! This is such a confidence booster for us, obviously securing the play-in but we’ve got bigger aspirations.”
And after showing its potential by winning in Madrid for the second season in a row, that confidence could well lead to Baskonia being a very difficult opponent in the playoffs.