Isaiah Canaan and Joel Bolomboy led a balanced team effort for the winners
Crvena Zvezda downs Baskonia to win home opener, 78-71
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 2 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Crvena Zvezda MeridianBet Belgrade remained undefeated in the 2024-25 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague by downing Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 78-71 at Belgrade Arena in Round 2 on Wednesday.
Isaiah Canaan paced the winners with 19 points. Joel Bolomboy added 15 points and 8 rebounds while Nikola Kalinic had 12 points for Zvezda. Chima Moneke led Baskonia with 19 points on 7-of-7 two-point shooting. Donta Hall added 13 points and 7 rebounds for the visitors. Zvezda improved to 2-0 in the standings while Baskonia dropped to 1-1.
Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot stepped up early for Baskonia with a steal and the game’s first 4 points, but it didn’t take long for Canaan to get going with a pair of three-pointers, which gave him 1,000 career points. The hosts remained hot and Belgrade Arena erupted when Kalinic drained a three and was fouled to make it 12-6. Codi Miller-McIntyre followed with a triple that prompted a Baskonia timeout. Mike Daum joined the three-point shootout before Joel Bolomboy threw in a shot to give Zvezda a double-digit lead, 20-10. Moneke’s show-and-go three-point play revived the visitors and Nikos Rogkavopoulos added a three to cap a 0-8 push. Yago Dos Santos connected on Zvezda’s sixth triple of the opening quarter before another tough bucket from Moneke made it 25-20 after 10 minutes.
Nemanja Nedovic left his mark with a three and a dunk as Zvezda extended the lead back to 10. Kamar Baldwin heated up for Baskonia, but Nedovic scored again for the hosts. Markus Howard got on the board with a pair of free throws, however, he was soon on the bench with 3 fouls. In the meantime, Miller-McIntyre kept Zvezda cruising with a pull-up jumper, a steal, and a dish to Bolomboy for a 40-28 advantage. Zvezda cooled off in the final minutes of the quarter and Hall and Luwawu-Cabarrot trimmed the deficit to 42-34 at the break.
Moneke scored in transition soon after the break and then Kalinic answered from beyond the arc for a 45-36 Zvezda lead. After Baldwin found Hall for a one-handed slam, Canaan banked in an off-balance shot and added a three-point play that boosted the hosts' lead to 50-38. Hall and Bolomboy traded layups and Howard bettered Kalinic's fastbreak layup with a three-pointer. Bolomboy ignited the crowd with an alley-oop slam. Sedekerskis matched him with a tip-in and Moneke's dunk gave Baskonia hope at 56-49. Bolomboy banked in a jump hook and split free throws to give Zvezda a 59-49 lead through three quarters.
Mitrovic scored around the basket early in the fourth quarter and Dejan Davidovac added a dunk that seemed to break the game open, 63-49. Nedovic hit a close jumper to cap a 9-0 Zvezda run. Rogkavopoulos buried a three-pointer and Howard added a floater to bring Baskonia within single digits, 65-56, with less than 6 minutes left. Hall capped a 0-9 run from the free throw line, then Rokgavopoulos's tip-in made it 66-60. Hall finished a four-chance Baskonia offense with another tip-in. Bolomboy followed a big block on Hall with a corner jumoer, then Kalimic found Canaan for another bomb from downtown that sealed the outcome, 71-62, as Baskonia never recovered.
