Simone Fontecchio drops 30, helps playoff-bound Baskonia survive Unicaja Malaga / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: Jose Luis Contreras/DAX via ZUMA Press Wire Credit Jose Luis Contreras/DAX via ZUMA Press Wire

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (18-13) suffered at the hands of hosts Unicaja Malaga (13-18), before escaping with a narrow 73-72 (25-12, 10-28, 16-15, 12-17) win at the Martin Carpena in Andalusia on Saturday night.

Simone Fontecchio led all scorers with 30 points on almost perfect shooting (7/7 on two-pointers, 4/7 on three-pointers, 4/4 free throws, plus 6 rebounds), while Steven Enoch was his only teammate in double digits. On the other hand, Dario Brizulea went for 21 points in a result that complicates Unicaja's European path and puts Baskonia on safer track ahead of the Spanish League playoffs.

Baskonia started the match with a partial 0-7 thanks to Fontecchio and Peters, and led by 13 (12-25) at the end of the first quarter. Jaime Fernandez and Alberto Diaz helped the hosts even the game (40-35 at half-time).

However, Fontecchio started producing again for the guests, who saw Kravic and Bouteille keep Malaga close (55-61). Unicaja had the last possession, but Brizuela was not able to score and Baskonia flew away with a sigh of relief.

Unicaja Malaga: Dario Brizuela 21 (9/22 FG, 2/5 FT, 3 REB, 3 AST, 2 ST), Jaime Fernandez 11, Cameron Oliver 11 (12 REB), Axelle Bouteille 10, Dejan Kravic 8 (15 REB).

Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz; Simone Fontecchio 30 (7/7 2PT SHOTS, 4/7 3PT SHOTS, 4/4 FT, 6 REB), Steven Enoch 11 (5/7 FG, 8 REB), Wade Baldwin 9 (4/15 FG, 4 AST, 3 TO), Alec Peters 8 (10 REB).

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