2018-19Regular SeasonRound 14
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 70
FC Barcelona Lassa 77
December 20, 2018 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

Pangos's late heroics lift Barcelona past Baskonia

FC Barcelona Lassa snapped its four-game losing streak by downing KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 70-77 at Fernando Buesa Arena on Thursday. Barcelona improved to 7-7 in the standings to get back into the playoff zone with Baskonia right behind at 6-8. The loss ended Baskonia's three-game winning streak. Kevin Pangos paced the winners with 16 points, Kevin Seraphin added 14, Thomas Huertel tallied 11 points and 6 assists and Chris Singleton netted 10 for Barcelona. Matt Janning led Baskonia with 19 points, Luca Vildoza scored 12 and Shavon Shields 11 in defeat.

Seraphin got Barcelona going with consecutive layups, but Luca Vildoza and Toko Shengelia answered from downtown for a 6-4 lead. Seraphin hit a jump hook and Victor Claver dunked in a 0-6 run that gave the visitors a 6-10 lead. Janning and Heurtel traded triples and Darrun Hilliard also hit one from beyond the arc. Seraphin gave Barcelona a 12-15 edge. Adam Hanga took over with a fast break layup and Singleton threw down a put-back dunk, but Marcelinho Huertas and Shengelia brought Baskonia within 16-19 after 10 minutes. Artem Pustovyi scored down low early in the second quarter and a three-pointer by Pangos boosted the margin to 20-24. Pierre Oriola bettered Vincent Poirier's free throws with a triple and Seraphin dunked, but Shields kept Baskonia within 26-29. Kyle Kuric and Janning exchanged three-pointers and free throws by Heurtel gave his team a 31-36 lead. Shields took over with a three-point play and a jumper by Vildoza brought Baskonia as close as 36-38. A dunk by Pustovyi and a buzzer-beating layup by Singleton restored a 39-42 Barcelona lead at halftime. A put-back basket by Shengelia and a three-pointer by Vildoza saw Baskonia regain the lead, 46-44, soon after the break. Seraphin silenced the crowd with a big dunk, but Poirier and Shields soon made it a 5-point game. Janning struck from downtown and a free throw by Hilliard capped a 9-0 Baskonia run. Claver and Heurtel brought Barcelona a bit closer, 55-49, after 30 minutes. Pustovyi tried to change things with a put-back layup and he bettered Ilimane Diop's jumper with a three-point play to make it 57-54 with 8 minutes left. Pangos hit a floater in the lane and a three-pointer by Oriola completed the comeback, 57-59. Pangos capped a 0-10 run with free throws. Shields hit free throws and Johannes Voigtmann dunked, but the unstoppable Pangos kept Barcelona in charge, 61-66, with 4 minutes left. Pau Ribas hit a critical three-pointer and a wild turnaround jumper by Pangos sealed the outcome, 62-71, in the next-to-last minute.

Pivotal performer

It took Pangos most of the game to find his rhythm. Once he did, however, Pangos was unstoppable. He had 13 of his 16 points in the final 7 minutes of the game, making sure Barcelona rallied and came back home with a valuable road victory.

Game-changing moment

A jumper by Diop gave Baskonia a 57-51 lead with over 8 minutes left. Pangos, Oriola and Pustovyi fueled a 0-10 run that allowed Barcelona to get the lead, 57-61. Baskonia never got back the lead, as Barcelona kept running its offense through an inspired Pangos.

Stellar stat

Barcelona outrebounded Baskonia by 29-36 and pulled down 14 offensive boards. The guests also excelled inside the arc, hitting 23 of 37 two-point shots (62.2%) and limiting Baskonia to just 14 of 27 (51.9%).

Did you notice?

It was Barcelona's first win against Baskonia after seven consecutive losses in the competition. Barcelona's previous win against Baskonia came on February 20, 2014 - 68-80 at Buesa Arena behind 24 points and 9 rebounds from Tomic. This was Barcelona's first win against Baskonia under the new, round-robin EuroLeague format.

Next game:

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Thursday; Baskonia visits Khimki Moscow Region at and Barcelona hosts Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

Kevin Pangos - FC Barcelona Lassa - EB18
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; MANTYLA, PETRI; NEDOVIC, MILAN
Attendance: 11018
By Quarter1234
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz16231615
FC Barcelona Lassa1923728
End of Quarter1234
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz16395570
FC Barcelona Lassa19424977
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 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
3 VILDOZA, LUCA 19:42 12 1/1 3/6 1/2   1 1 3 2 2     2 5 15
5 GONZALEZ, MIGUEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 13:03 2 1/1     1   1 2 1           6
9 HUERTAS, MARCELINHO 13:50 4 2/3 0/2     2 2 4 1 2     2   4
11 JANNING, MATT 31:09 19 0/2 5/8 4/4 1 5 6     2     2 3 19
12 DIOP, ILIMANE 9:56 2 1/1     1 1 2     1     4 2 1
15 GRANGER, JAYSON 15:19 2 1/4 0/1   1 1 2         1 2   -3
17 POIRIER, VINCENT 23:09 6 2/3   2/2 2 4 6 3   1 1   2 1 13
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 33:52 8 2/6 1/3 1/2 1 2 3 2 1 2 1     4 10
31 SHIELDS, SHAVON 29:30 11 4/6 0/2 3/3 1 2 3 2   3 1   3 4 11
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 10:30 4   1/4 1/2       1   2       2 1
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 70 14/27 10/26 12/15 9 20 29 17 5 15 3 1 17 21 80
        51.9% 38.5% 80%
Head coach: PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
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
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SERAPHIN, KEVIN 15:25 14 6/7   2/2 1   1     3     4 2 9
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 22:22 16 4/6 2/5 2/2       1 1 1     3 3 12
5 RIBAS, PAU 22:01 3 0/1 1/3     3 3 5 3 1     3 1 8
6 SINGLETON, CHRIS 21:10 10 4/7 0/2 2/2 3   3 1   1   1 2 1 6
8 HANGA, ADAM 15:50 2 1/2 0/2 0/1 1 3 4 1 2     1 2 3 5
9 BLAZIC, JAKA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 23:17 11 3/4 1/5 2/2   1 1 6 2       1 3 17
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM 10:45 9 4/5   1/1 2 2 4       1   1 1 13
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 21:49 6 0/1 2/5   1 4 5 3   1     1 1 9
24 KURIC, KYLE 12:20 3 0/1 1/2   1 1 2 1   1     1   2
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 24:10 3 1/2 0/1 1/2 2 4 6 1   2     1 1 5
44 TOMIC, ANTE 10:51   0/1     2 1 3   1 4   1 2 1 -3
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 77 23/37 7/25 10/12 14 22 36 19 9 14 1 3 21 17 87
        62.2% 28% 83.3%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR
KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz
"First, congratulations to Barcelona. They played tougher and better tonight, and they deserved this victory. We had a problem in the beginning with turnovers and all game long with offensive rebounds. They had a lot of offensive rebounds. Finally, the last quarter decided the game. I believe that at the end of the third quarter, when we had a 9-point lead, we were not able to score in two or three consecutive offenses and they lowered the margin to 6 points. That was a key moment for us. We didn't have a good start to the fourth quarter, so they tied the game and took the lead. We kept trying, but couldn't do it. They had a better temperament and mental toughness to win the game. I have the feeling we didn't play the way we have lately, especially in the fourth quarter. When you don't score much and they score 28 points, it means they were fresh and with clear minds, and this is why they won the game. The third quarter was different and we had a chance to get a bigger lead, but were not able to do it. Unfortunately, they played with more patience and accuracy than us."
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona Lassa
"To play in Vitoria against a very competitive team like Baskonia is always a new challenge. You need to compete against a team that plays here with good character, physical game, and it is not easy for other teams to come here and win. This is the reason why we are very happy, not only every win is important in the EuroLeague, but for me, as a coach, it is more important how we won the game - with discipline and making good decisions on offense. We knew what we wanted in every moment, how we wanted to attack. Defense was like before the game against Unicaja [in the Spanish League] or Olympiacos. We played defense at this level, but tonight, we controlled the offensive rebounds of our opponents and I think that if you control offensive rebounds against a physical, aggressive team like Baskonia, then you can find good decisions on offense."

Players

SERAPHIN, KEVIN
FC Barcelona Lassa
"We needed that one. It was a really important win for us. We had a few losses and were basically trying to break that streak. We play to win - that is basically what we fight for. That is the goal and from there, we can keep our confidence and win the next one at home."
PANGOS, KEVIN
FC Barcelona Lassa
"It was good. It has been an up-and-down year for our team, myself included. I just wanted to get the win really badly today, and I think that our team responded. This victory was huge. If you look at the standings, everything is competitive and we dropped a couple of games before. We just needed to get this win and fought hard."