Real Madrid comfortably overcame Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz, staying perfect at home with an 89-74 victory. Real came out flying on offense, reaching a 50-35 lead at the break. The advantage grew to 20 in the third quarter before Baskonia found some offensive rhythm to make it closer, but the outcome never really looked in doubt.
Real comfortably downs Baskonia, 89-74
Guerschon Yabusele scored 13 points in the first quarter and finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds, while Anthony Randolph had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Alberto Abalde scored 15, Vincent Poirier had 11, and Jeffery Taylor and Trey Thompkins both scored 10. Wade Baldwin IV paced Baskonia with 16 points, while Steven Enoch scored 11 and Rokas Giedraitis had 10. Real improves to 15-3 to keep a strong grip on second place, while Baskonia remains well adrift of the playoffs places at 7-12.
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Enoch and Poirier exchanged inside blows to open the scoring, before Abalde, Yabusele and Taylor all hit triples to send Real ahead, 13-6. Yabusele netted inside three times in quick succession, extending the margin to 19-11 despite a three-pointer from Alec Peters. Fabien Causeur and the unstoppable Yabusele made it a double-digit game, but Baldwin’s long two beat the first quarter buzzer to pull Baskonia within 25-17. Randolph and Simone Fontecchio scored inside at the start of the second, before Yabusele stayed hot with another close-range conversion and Thomas Heurtel drained a triple for a 32-21 lead. Matt Costello hit back with a three-point play, Alec Peters added a transition jumper and Jayson Granger made a bank shot as Baskonia came back to 34-28. Randolph’s tip-in and Thompkins’ triple pulled Real clear again, before Sergio Llull’s triple and two scores from Abalde stretched the lead to 50-35 at half-time.
Yabusele prolonged his hot streak by opening the third quarter scoring, and fellow Frenchmen Poirier and Causeur also scored inside as Real continued to roll. Causeur hit a triple to make it 59-39, before Baldwin and Costello (twice) were on target from deep to revive Baskonia’s hopes. But Randolph’s rainbow three settled the hosts, helping make it 69-50 after three quarters. Giedraitis hit a three and Lamar Peters added a layup to make it closer early in the fourth, but two more scores for Randolph ensured the comeback never looked too threatening. Taylor’s baseline dunk made it 75-59 midway through the fourth. Baldwin’s three-point play kept Baskonia hoping, but Abalde and Taylor hit triples to keep the home team comfortable heading into the final minutes, 81-66. Thompkins scored 5 late points to keep a safe margin as Real cruised home.