Trent Forrest hit the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds left
Trent Forrest lifts Baskonia past Barcelona, 88-86
In a thriller that literally came down to the last shot, Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz edged FC Barcelona 88-86 at Buesa Arena in Round 24 on Thursday. Baskonia improved to 10-14 in the standings while Barca dropped to 13-11.
Chima Moneke led the winners with 22 points and 9 rebounds. Trent Forrest added 15 points, including the game-winning shot with 0.5 seconds remaining. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Kamar Baldwin and Donta Hall each scored 11 points for Baskonia.
Chimezie Metu paced Barca with 14 points. Kevin Punter added 13, Dario Brizuela, Tomas Satoransky and Willy Hernangomez each had 11 while Juan Nunez and Jabari Parker got 10 apiece for the visitors.
Game Videos
Baldwin got Baskonia going with a layup off a steal. Satoransky matched him with a jumper and fed Parker for a backdoor layup. Luwawu-Cabarrot scored down low and Baldwin added a jumper. Punter and Satoransky each struck from downtown to give the visitors a 6-10 lead. Satoransky kept pacing Barca with a fastbreak slam before Luwawu-Cabarrot and Forrest each scored in penetration to bring Baskonia within 10-12. After Punter hit a jumper, Satoransky erased Moneke's dunk with a floater. Alex Abrines joined the three-point shootout and Parker swished a turnaround jumper. Moneke and Donta Hall brought their team closer, 19-23. Luka Samanic took over with a backdoor layup and Hall's one-handed put-back slam tied it at 23-23. Hernangomez dunked at the other end for a 23-25 Barca lead after 10 minutes.
Hall's big block on Hernangomez allowed Samanic to score at the other end. Brizuela struck from beyond the arc and added a three-point play to give Barca fresh air at 25-31. Metu added a layup-plus-foul in a 0-12 run that he capped with a triple. Hall stepped up with a three-point play and Samanic's layup gave Baskonia hope at 30-37. Forrest capped a 7-0 run with a driving basket. After Metu beat the shot clock with an off-balance jumper, Brizuela made a three-pointer and Parker's layup prompted the hosts to call timeout at 32-44. Forrest scored again and Nikos Rogkavopoulos struck twice from downtown in a 12-0 run that Moneke capped with a put-back layup to even things at 44-44. Punter's jumper gave Barca a 44-46 edge at halftime.
Baldwin nailed a step-back jumper soon after the break and Khalida Diop's dunk tied it at 48-48. Moneke improved on Hernangomez's layup with a triple that gave Baskonia a 51-50 edge. Satoransky nailed a turnaround jumper and Hernangomez erased Baldwin's layup with a floater for a 53-54 Barca lead. Baldwin struck from downtown before Luwawu-Cabarrot scored in the paint to make it 58-54. After Hernangomez stepped up with a three-point play, Abrines and Luwawu-Cabarrot traded triples. Metu gave Barca a 61-62 edge. Moneke got help from Markus Howard to put Baskonia back in charge, 65-64, after three quarters.
Moneke ignited the crowd with a coast-to-coast layup early in the fourth quarter. Metu buried a jump hook and Parker dunked to provide another lead change, 67-68. Forrest took over with a wild driving layup, which Hall followed with a dunk that made it a 4-point game. Nunez hit a floater in the lane and Brizuela erased Hall's tip-in from the foul line. Hernangomez finished a three-chance Barca offense with a tip-in. Forrest and Nunez each struck from beyond the arc to even things at 78-78. Howard fed Forrest for a fastbreak slam and buried a triple that gave his team an 83-80 lead. Metu sank a jump hook that Moneke bettered with a bomb from downtown that caused Barca to call timeout at 86-82 with 48.2 seconds left. Nunez scored in penetration and after a defensive stop, Punter sank a jumper that tied it at 86-86 with 3.5 seconds left. That left just enough time for Forrest to make a one-handed jumper in the lane to win the game!