2019-20Regular SeasonRound 20
CSKA Moscow 94
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 90
January 17, 2020 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 MEGASPORT ARENA

James fires CSKA past Baskonia

CSKA Moscow withstood a fast start and lightning finish from KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz to record a 94-90 home victory on Friday night. Baskonia was unstoppable in the opening minutes and led by 9 points midway through the first, but a 10-0 run sent CSKA into the lead. The home team raced to a 19-point margin in the second half before a late flurry from Baskonia put the outcome back in doubt. Mike James led the way with a season-high 33 points, while Darrun Hilliard added 14 points on 4-of-5 three-point shooting and Johannes Voigtmann scored 10. Youssoupha Fall paced Baskonia with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Pierria Henry added 18 points and 9 rebounds. Matt Janning (12), Tornike Shengelia (12) and Shavon Shields (11) and also reached double figures in defeat. The victory lifts CSKA to 14-6 for a three-way tie in third place, while Baskonia remains in the bottom half at 7-13.

Shields drained a couple of triples and Henry added another as Baskonia made a fast start, while Hilliard and James answered from deep at the other end. James made a couple of close-range buckets but Henry and Tornike Shengelia produced dazzling finishes for a 12-21 Baskonia lead. Joel Bolomboy and Howard Sant-Roos pulled CSKA closer, and James hit a triple to complete a 10-0 run for the host’s first lead, 22-21. James netted another triple and Semen Antonov converted an offensive rebound for a 27-25 edge after ten minutes. Nik Stauskas and Hilliard traded triples early in the second quarter, before Ron Baker and Kostas Koufos scored inside at the host stayed ahead. Voigtmann and Baker struck from the corner to make it 44-38, before the half ended at 52-46 after a close-range strike from Micheal Eric and a buzzer-beating tip-in from Voigtmann. CSKA opened the second half with a triple from Hilliard and a fastbreak dunk from Nikita Kurbanov, briefly opening up a double-digit lead, but a Shields three-pointer helped bring Baskonia back. Voigtmann and James protected CSKA’s lead from deep, and free throws from James stretched the advantage to 69-56. James penetrated to score at the end of the third, which finished 75-58 as Baskonia made just one field goal in the last five minutes. Henry’s three-point play gave the visiting team hope early in the fourth, but James and Hilliard hit three-pointers and free throws from James made it 86-67. A trio of close-range scores from Fall and a deep strike from Janning pulled it back to 88-79 inside the final two minutes, and another Janning deep ball made it 88-83 with 50 seconds left. Kyle Hines snapped the 0-12 run before Fall made a three-point play for 90-86, but James held his nerve from the foul line and that was enough.

Visitors start and finish strong

Baskonia made a remarkable start on offense, converting 8 of its first 11 field goal attempts to score 21 points in exactly five minutes. The Spanish side then lost its way on offense before mounting a late charge with 23 points in the last 4:49, coming close to overturning a 19-point deficit.

Former trio punish Baskonia

Mike James led CSKA’s comeback by scoring 13 points in the first quarter. He was one of three former Baskonia players in home team’s starting five, along with Darrun Hilliard and Johannes Voigtmann, and they were the only three CSKA players to reach double figures. Together they combined for 60.6% of their team’s points.

2,000 up for James

With his haul of 33 points, James has now passed 2,000 points in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. He now has 2,013 points in 132 games, at an average of 15.3 points per game.

Next round

CSKA stays at home for a visit from Valencia Basket next Thursday, and on the same night Baskonia welcomes the other team from the Russian capital, Khimki Moscow Region.

Mike James - CSKA Moscow - EB19
Friday, January 17, 2020
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; ROCHA, FERNANDO; DRAGOJEVIC, IGOR
Attendance: 6587
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow27252319
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz25211232
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow27527594
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz25465890
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 17:09 3 0/2 1/4     3 3   2         2 5
5 JAMES, MIKE 29:32 33 3/8 5/9 12/14 1 2 3 3 1 1   2   8 34
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 9:57 4 1/2   2/4 2 2 4           3 2 4
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 21:58 10 1/2 2/3 2/2 2 3 5 2     1   2 1 15
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 8:27     0/1     1 1 2 1 1     2    
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 14:49 4 0/3 0/2 4/4 1   1 2       1 1 4 4
26 SANT-ROOS, HOWARD 15:42 6 3/5 0/2   2   2 1   2     3    
31 KOUFOS, KOSTA 11:39 6 3/4     1 1 2 1 1 1 1   4 1 6
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 24:21 14 1/3 4/5     1 1 2   2     1 1 12
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 14:01 4 1/1   2/2 2 1 3 1         2 1 7
42 HINES, KYLE 20:46 4 1/2   2/2 2 3 5 4   1 1   3 1 10
84 BAKER, RON 11:39 6 1/1 1/1 1/2 1 1 2   1 1       1 8
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 94 15/33 13/27 25/30 14 19 33 18 6 10 3 3 21 22 105
        45.5% 48.1% 83.3%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 PENAVA, AJDIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 HENRY, PIERRIA 36:20 18 6/10 1/5 3/3 6 3 9 4 1       3 4 25
11 JANNING, MATT 28:12 12 3/3 2/7   1   1 1 1 2     3   5
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 4:02           1 1           2   -1
17 GARCIA, SERGI 1:08           1 1     1          
19 FALL, YOUSSOUPHA 15:53 19 6/7   7/12 6 4 10           2 9 30
22 STAUSKAS, NIK 21:14 9 3/5 1/4   1 3 4 1         3   6
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 32:17 12 5/12 0/1 2/2       5 1 5 1 2 2 2 4
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 29:00 11 0/3 3/5 2/2 1 3 4 1 1 2 1   3 2 10
33 POLONARA, ACHILLE 12:10   0/1     1   1 1       1      
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 19:44 9 3/5   3/3 2 3 5       1   4 4 13
Team           2 1 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 90 26/46 7/22 17/22 20 19 39 13 4 11 3 3 22 21 94
        56.5% 31.8% 77.3%
Head coach: IVANOVIC, DUSKO

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow

“We had a slow start but managed to win the first quarter, and then we established a much better defensive attitude, better rotations, ball pressure and deflections. We kept them really low and built a good margin, we were close to 20 points up. But then we stopped playing. We cannot underestimate people and this is something we have to work on. Congrats for the win, back to back wins are important. And I don’t only want to talk about the end because the other 35 minutes also existed, but the game gives us this: we cannot stop playing.”

“We never had a real threat about the game, but I don’t like this ending. Consistency is very important. The team deserves congratulations but this is a long road and we need to be more consistent, definitely.”

IVANOVIC, DUSKO
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
“Our problem was how we played the third quarter. Without patience, taking the first option, no aggression on defence, no boxing out, no character. This is what we must improve. We can lose the game but we must play serious.”

Players

JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
“I’m happy we got the win. We didn’t close it out like we should but teams can go on runs when they’re down and try to come back, so I’m happy to win. I knew I was close to 2,000 points but I didn’t know how close, but it’s cool! It took me six years to get here and don’t know if I have six more years in me!”
HILLIARD, DARRUN
CSKA Moscow
“We had a lack of focus near the end. The good thing about this team is that we play well together and share the ball but we can always improve. We had a great game but slipped and lost focus for the last few minutes. It will be another way for us to improve over the season. In both the last two games [against Real Madrid and Baskonia] we had to fight, play four quarters and respect them, they’re both great teams.”
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