Markus Howard was held scoreless for the second game in a row
Monaco dominates in Vitoria, 75-87
AS Monaco sent a message that echoed all around the competition by beating Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 75-87 at Buesa Arena in Round 10 on Thursday. Monaco improved to 6-4 in the standings, while Baskonia dropped to 4-6 and is on a four-game losing streak.
Mike James led the winners with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Elie Okobo added 15 points for Monaco. Chima Moneke and Tadas Sedekerskis paced Baskonia with 16 points apiece. Donta Hall added 12 and Nikos Rogkavopoulos had 11 for the hosts.
Game Videos
Hall got Baskonia going with a layup. Jaron Blossomgame followed a tip-in with a three-pointer for a 2-5 Monaco lead. Vitto Brown improved on Kamar Baldwin's layup with a bomb from downtown and James added an acrobatic basket. Brown soon added a corner triple to make it a double-digit game, 4-14. Matthew Strazel and James each struck from downtown and Alpha Diallo boosted the guests' lead to 5-22, after a 1-17 run. Rogkavopoulos stepped up with a layup that Diallo erased from the foul line to fix the score at 7-24 after 10 minutes.
Rogkavopoulos tried to ignite Baskonia's comeback with a put-back layup early in the second quarter. Okobo and Diallo, however, boosted the guests' lead to 9-28. Okobo erased Hall's one-handed put-back slam with a floater, then Georgios Papagiannis buried back-to-back triples and added a jumper to break the game open, 13-38. Hall dunked again and Rogkavopoulos improved on Jordan Loyd's circus shot with a bomb from beyond the arc. Donatas Motiejunas rescued Monaco with 5 quick points, getting help from Blossomgame to boost Monaco's lead to 20-47. Sedekerskis brought Baskonia closer, 20-47, at halftime.
James took over with a driving layup soon after the break. Moneke found his first points and Sedekerskis's corner triple gave Baskonia hope at 29-49. Moneke took over with a driving layup that Strazel bettered with a rainbow three-pointer. Luwawu-Cabarrot finished a three-chance Baskonia offense with a layup. Then Sedekerskis prompted the visitors to call timeout at 35-52. Loyd and Diallo each downed a triple to restore a 38-58 Monaco lead. A red-hot Moneke answered with back-to-back three-point plays and a pair of free throws to make it 46-58. Rogkavopoulos ignited the crowd with a four-point play, getting help from Hall and Kamar Baldwin to bring Baskonia much closer, 55-62, after 30 minutes.
Okobo sank a three-pointer early in the fourth quarter and erased Hall's put-back slam with a rainbow floater for a 57-66 Monaco lead. Loyd stepped up for the visitors and Okobo bettered Moneke's put-back layup with a three-point play. Baldwin scored off a spin move, but James and Loyd kept Monaco way ahead, 61-75, with 6 minutes left. James hit a scoop shot in the lane and buried a three-pointer that sealed the outcome, 61-80. Even though Baskonia never gave up, Monaco kept full control of the game and cruised to a well-deserved road victory.