"Super Mario" buried the game-winning shot with 0.2 seconds left
Hezonja's three leads Real past Baskonia, 90-89
In a thriller that came down to the wire, Real Madrid edged Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 90-89 on a game-winning three-pointer by Mario Hezonja with 0.2 seconds left. Real improved to 13-10 in the standings while Baskonia dropped to 9-14.
Hezonja and Facu Campazzo led the winners with 22 points apiece. Dzanan Musa added 16 while Walter Tavares had 10 for Real. Nikos Rogkavopoulos paced Baskonia with 22 points. Trent Forrest added 19, Chima Moneke had 14 while Luka Samanic got 10 for the visitors.
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Musa got Real going with a driving layup. Sander Raieste erased it with a fastbreak dunk and Moneke soon gave Baskonia its first lead, 3-4. Tavares followed a three-point play with a tip-in in a 7-0 run that Campazzo matched with a driving layup. Raieste answered from downtown and Forrest dunked. After Musa stepped up with a layup, Markus Howard and Eli Ndiaye traded triples. Khalifa Diop's jump hook brought the visitors within 15-14. Campazzo bettered Moneke's put-back dunk with a three-pointer and added an acrobatic layup for a 20-16 Real lead. Forrest hit one from beyond the arc and added a stop-and-pop jumper. Alberto Abalde gave Real a 22-21 edge after 10 minutes.
Samanic took over with a three-point play early in the second quarter. Andres Feliz beat the shot clock with a running hook, which Hezonja followed with consecutive layups for a 28-26 Real lead. After Hezonja buried a three-pointer, Rogkavopoulos and Usman Garuba traded baskets. Moneke brought Baskonia within 33-31. Garuba kept pushing Los Blancos with a layup. but Forrest followed a jumper with a wild driving layup that put Baskonia ahead 35-37. Kamar Baldwin matched Hugo Gonzalez's alley-oop layup with a step-back jumper and Rogkavopoulos's corner triple boosted the visitors' lead to 37-42. Serge Ibaka answered from downtown and Campazzo's floater brought his team within 42-45 at halftime.
Hezonja downed a jumper right after the break. Moneke answered with a put-back layup, which Baldwin followed with a mid-range jumper for a 44-49 score. Hezonja followed a three-pointer with a layup. Forrest hit another jumper before Campazzo's basket-plus-foul gave Real a 52-51 edge. Xavier Rathan-Mayes found his first points and Moneke dunked in transition before Musa boosted his team's lead to 56-53. Rogkavopoulos and Howard each buried a triple in a 0-8 run that Forrest capped with a fadeaway jumper. After Tavares and Musa made free throws, Rogkavopoulos answered with a layup. Campazzo kept Real close. Ognjan Jaramaz and Tavares traded layups before Rogkavopoulos's tip-in fixed the score at 64-67 after three-quarters.
Garuba scored down low at the start of the fourth quarter and Musa's three-pointer prompted Baskonia to call timeout at 69-67. Campazzo capped a 7-0 Real run with a layup, as Hall stopped the show with a huge alley-oop slam in traffic. After Campazzo and Rogkavopoulos exchanged layups, Samanic dunked on Tavares. Forrest's layup put Baskonia ahead 74-75 with less than 6 minutes left. Hezonja scored in penetration and got help from Musa and Campazzo in a 10-0 run that seemed to seal the outcome, 84-75. Forrest stepped up with a driving layup, however, and Rogkavopoulos added a floater and a three-pointer. Moneke silenced the crowd with a wild four-point play that put Baskonia up 84-86. Samanic capped a 0-13 run from the foul line. Hezonja's three-pointer got Real within 87-88 with 27.4 seconds left. Baldwin and Samanic combined to shoot 1 for 4 from the free-throw line before Hezonja won the game at the buzzer with an incredible three-pointer.