The big man hit shined in his most impressive performance after returning from injury
Joel Bolomboy propelled Crvena Zvezda to a crunch win at Baskonia
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Regular Season
Round 19 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade produced is third successive win in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and improved to 11-8, after center Joel Bolomboy paced the Serbian team with 16 points and 8 boards in a dramatic 73-75 success at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Bolomboy, who had missed 11 games through injury before he returned to action in mid-December, stepped up in Zvezda’s hour of need as he kept the Serbian team firmly on course to reach the postseason.
Having been dominated by Baskonia counterpart Donta Hall early on, Bolomboy turned the table on his rival and dismantled the home team with a barrage of slam dunks and some intelligent plays at both ends of the court, ensuring Zvezda held its own in the paint.
In his postgame comments, Bolomboy was relieved that Zvezda came out on top after the visitors nearly spilled a 15-point lead in the second half and trailed 73-71 in the home stretch, before Isaiah Canaan forced the final twist.
“These are the games that matter the most because had we lost it, it would have been a different story,” Bolomboy said in a courtside postgame interview. “We’ve got to stay focused and execute better offensively when we’ve got a big lead.
“They have the crowd behind them and really good players who can score and thrive in game-time situations when the it’s on the line, so I am glad we walked away with the win.”
Canaan endured a torrid shooting night as he sank only 1 of 8 from deep but came up big when the chips were down, silencing the home fans with a pair of majestic layups which forced Baskonia into submission.
“I just tried to take what they give me,” Canaan pointed out. “Clearly I couldn’t make a three tonight, but I was fortunate to get the ball on the rim [on those last two plays]. Every game matters for us and as long as we continue to stay together and keep fighting, we can play with the best of them.”
Zvezda head coach Ioannis Sfairopoulos was aware a Baskonia fightback was imminent after the hosts trailed 28-42 at halftime, having shot 0 of 15 from long range in the opening two quarters. Still, the Greek tactician was delighted to see his team weather the storm after the hosts had turned the game around in the fourth.
“We expected Baskonia to react after falling behind,” he said. “We were still in control early in the second half but then they made some tough shots and got back into the game. In the end, we won the game thanks to good decisions at both ends of the court.”
“We want to take it one game at a time and not think too far ahead. We want to learn from our mistakes from the past and not make them again,” Sfairopoulos added, as Zvezda keeps showing the kind of grit and character missing last season when the Serbian side fell woefully short of getting into the postseason picture.
Baskonia head coach Pablo Laso could only rue his team’s inconsistency as the Spanish outfit ultimately paid the price for a dreadful first-half performance.
“It was very tight and we fought until the end,” Laso said with a wry smile on his face. “We played with heart and were aggressive in the second half, but in the first we couldn’t make a shot. We have to decide which one of those two teams we want to be.”