Shengelia, Vogitmann lead Baskonia past Crvena Zvezda

Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz continued its winning run, with its third straight win, this time by holding off Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 81-85 on Thursday night in the Serbian capital. It was the second consecutive road win for Baskonia, which improved to 4-6, while Zvezda lost its fifth straight and dropped to 2-7. Johannes Voigtmann paced Baskonia with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists, while Tornike Shengelia, who hit a long jumper with 17 seconds left to seal the win, scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. Janis Timma set his career-high with 15 points, Matt Janning netted 13, and Rodrigue Beaubois had 10 in victory. Mathias Lessort scored 19 points, and Ognjen Dobirc scored 17, both career-highs, for Zvezda. James Feldein had 10 points in defeat.

The teams traded baskets early on. Milko Bjelica’s three-point play opened 9-7 lead for the hosts, but Shengelia fueled the visitors’ run with a three-point play and a runner. A triple from Marcelinho Huertas made it 12-20, but Taylor Rochestie with a driving layup and Dobric with a three-point play cut the deficit to 17-22 and Zvezda came even closer in the second as Feldeine had a three-pointer and Dobric hit a pair of baskets, before a three-point play by Stefan Jankovic made it 32-34. But Baskonia answered with a 0-12 run, during which Janning hit a pair of three-pointers that opened 32-46 margin before Rochestie and Lessort cut it to 38-47 at halftime.

The hosts made another charge, with baskets from Dobric, and a triple from Jankovic that cut it to 48-52. But Janning drove for a baseline reverse layup, Voigtmann added a basket inside and Rinalds Malmanis and Beaubois hit from the outside to open a 54-64 margin. A three-point play from Lessort made it a 7-point affair going into the fourth quarter, and Feldeine hit from long range to make it 60-66 early in the fourth. After Beaubois and Dejan Davidovac traded triples, Jayson Granger and Voigtmann extended the Baskonia lead to 65-73. But Lessort strung together 8 points, including a pair of three-point plays to tie the game, before Davidovac made foul shots to put the hosts in front 75-73. However, Janning and Timma each hit a three-pointer to give Baskonia a 78-81 edge. Voigtmann kept the visitors in front, and after Bjelica scored to cut the difference to 81-83, Shengelia hit a long-jumper to beat the shot-clock with 17 seconds to go, securing victory.