Daulton Hommes had a career night in Round 26
Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz played one of its best games this season on Friday night, downing Valencia Basket 114-75 in Round 26. Daulton Hommes played a big role for the winners, setting a new club record in the process.
Valencia had a strong start and led 10-15 early in the game. Hommes stepped up with 8 quick points, including a dunk, and a big block on Jonah Radebaugh, allowing Baskonia to set a new physical tone for the rest of the game. He added 6 more points early in the second half before getting 6 more in the fourth quarter, including a big three-pointer that allowed Baskonia to start celebrating a big win, 95-66.
Hommes finished the game with 21 points, a new career high, after having downed all 15 of his free-throw attempts to set a new Baskonia club record that had stood for almost two decades. On December 17, 2003, Arvydas Macijauskas went 14-for-14 from the free-throw line in a 92-76 home win against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Hommes is now 33-of-35 for the season, ranking first overall (94.3% FT). His PIR of 31 is also a personal best in 23 EuroLeague career games.
"We wanted this win really bad. We work hard and compete every night. We just have to keep the same energy on the road now. We have high aspirations, our goals are big and we are going to keep on fighting," Hommes said after the game. "It feels good, I put a lot of work in my game and felt good tonight."
Asked about Hommes, Baskonia head coach Joan Penarroya felt good about the forward's monster performance. "I am very happy for Daulton's game, and his teammates are very happy, too. He proved it from the very beginning, Daulton has shown for many months that he is an important player for us," he commented. "We are talking about an important player that balances our game a lot and gives us options which we have if he is doing well. And if he doesn't, we have to look for other alternatives."