D’Tigers forward Chima Moneke produced a Most Valuable Player of the Game performance, scoring a game-high 22 points to power Baskonia to a nail-bitting 88-86 win over FC Barcelona Basquet in their round 24 encounter of the EuroLeague on Thursday night.
Barcelona and Baskonia both started the game strong, but Barcelona managed to win the first quarter by a narrow margin of 25-23. The second quarter was a much tighter affair, with both teams scoring 21 points.
Baskonia then took the lead by winning the third quarter 21-18 and the fourth quarter 23-22. The game was tied at 86-86 before Trent Forrest scored the winning points for Baskonia, avoiding overtime.
It was a game to remember for Moneke who led the game with 22 points (2-2 from the two-point line, 2-5 from the three-point line, and 10-12 from the free throw line). He also had a game-high nine rebounds (three offensive and six defensive) along with three assists. He had a game-high 34 performance index rating.
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Moneke’s effort was helped by Trent Forrest’s 15 points while the trio of Donna Hall, Kamar Baldwin, and Timothe Luwawu-Babarrot all dropped 11 points apiece in the win, their 10th of the season.
Moneke’s D’Tigers teammate Chimezie Metu was the star performer for Barcelona in the loss. He had a team-high 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Kevin Punter had 13 points in a slow game for the American while trio of Willy Hernangomez, Tomas Satoransky, and Dario Brizula added 11 points apiece.
Baskonia have been in superb form in recent games winning four of their last five games in all competitions. Moneke is averaging 15.1% points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
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