Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz protected its home court with a 78-62 win over reeling EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Thursday night and did so behind two timely 13-2 runs.
Two 13-2 runs keyed Baskonia's victory vs. Milan
The first one came in the first quarter. With Baskonia up 11-7, Darius Thompson got things going with a floater before Rokas Giedraitis first scored a fastbreak layup and then set up an easy dunk for Maik Kotsar. A jumper from Giedraitis and a layup from Steven Enoch made it 21-7. After a pair of free throws from Milan's Kyle Hines, a triple from Matthew Costello ended the first quarter with Baskonia up 24-9.
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The other 13-2 run came in the third quarter. When Brandon Davies closed Milan within 40-35, the closest they got since the first quarter, Darius Thompson hit a triple before Markus Howard nailed back-to-back long-range daggers to make it 49-37. A basket from Kotsar and an acrobatic reverse layup from Henry made it 53-37, putting Baskonia in complete control.
Milan did not come closer than 8 points the rest of the way as Baskonia cruised to win, sending Milan to its seventh consecutive defeat.