Baskonia shows its strength right away by downing Real Madrid

TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz showed its strength right away by downing Real Madrid 76-63 at Fernando Buesa Arena on Friday. Pierria Henry led the winners with a career-high 23 points. Alec Peters added 18 while Rokas Giedraitis and Luca Vildoza each had 12 for Baskonia. Facu Campazzo led Real with 17 points. Jaycee Carroll and Walter Tavares each had 10 for the guests. It was a close game for the first three quarters, but Henry led a 14-4 run early in the fourth that allowed Baskonia to take full control until the final buzzer.

Anthony Randolph got Real going with a three-pointer but Henry and Peters quickly gave Baskonia its first lead, 5-3. Campazzo and Carroll scored from downtown in an 0-8 run, before Vildoza stepped up with a driving layup and close jumper, bringing Baskonia within 10-12.

Carroll kept pacing Real with a fast break layup and a mid-range jumper but Achille Polonara and Ilimane Diop made it 15-16 after 10 minutes. Trey Thompkins joined the three-point shootout early in the second quarter, but Rokas Giedraitis matched that with a layup-plus-foul and added a floater for a 20-19 lead. Rudy Fernandez beat the shot clock with a wild triple and Randolph restored a 21-24 Madrid edge. Peters rescued the hosts with a three-point play and a bomb from way downtown, getting help from Henry to give Baskonia a 33-29 edge at halftime. Campazzo bettered Peters’s jumper with a triple soon after the break, then Carroll also struck from downtown and Tavares sank a jump hook to cap a 1-10 run that forced Baskonia to stop the game at 36-39.

Vildoza took over with 4 quick points but Tavares and Campazzo fueled a 0-6 run that restored a 40-45 Real edge. Henry tried to change things for the hosts and Peters followed a layup with a turnaround jumper to put Baskonia back in charge, 52-49, after 30 minutes. Gabriel Deck took over with a three-point play early in the fourth quarter. Henry and Giedraitis each hit floater in a 6-0 run that made it a six-point game, 58-52. Campazzo scored twice in penetration but Henry did even better with a couple of a three-pointers and a jumper, good for a 66-56 Baskonia margin. Deck scored around the basket but Vildoza answered from beyond the arc to seal the outcome, 69-58, as Real never recovered.