Yabusele's impressive run propels Real to a commanding win over Baskonia / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix Credit ZUMAPRESS.com-Scanpix

Despite losing five players to Covid, Real Madrid (15-3) won their fourth straight contest, comfortably beating the visiting Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (7-12) 89-74 (25-17, 25-18, 19-15, 20-24).

Player of the Game EFF 27 Guerschon Yabusele Points 17 Accuracy 8-11 Rebounds 8 Assists 3

Real Madrid jumped out to a lead right from the start of the game. Guerschon Yabusele was spectacular, scoring 13 points on 5/5 shooting in the first quarter. He led the hosts to an eight-point lead after one (25-17).

A team effort in the second quarter helped Real go on a 9-0 run to gain a commanding lead 17-point lead (48-31). Real's advantage ballooned to 20 in the third period (59-39).

Baskonia made an admirable effort in the fourth, cutting their deficit to 11 (64-75). However, that turned out to be their best tonight, as Real came away with a solid x-point victory.

Guerschon Yabusele led Real with 17 points (7/7 2PT, 1/4 3PT), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, and 27 PIR.

"That was our first home game of 2022, we had to get the job done," Yabusele said. "We did it tonight, it was a good job. Every player played great and I’m happy with the win. We were trying to play aggressive, offense, and defense, we know they attack the rim every time so we were just trying to help each other and win the game together."

Wade Baldwin played well for Baskonia, ending with 16 points (6/8 2PT, 1/3 3PT, 1/1 FT), 6 assists, 2 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, and 21 PIR.

"The team stopped playing for two weeks, it's too much and we lost our team," Baskonia coach Neven Spahija said. "But we're not asking for an excuse. We have to play better basketball. We have to go back to analyse the mistakes and keep working, but we’re going to be better."

Real managed to win even with multiple players missing this game due to Covid, including Walter Tavares, Rudy Fernandez, and Tristan Vukcevic.

Six players scored in double figures for Real, including a double-double by Anthony Randolph, who played just his third game after recovering from injury. He had 13 points (5/8 2PT, 1/1 3PT, 6/6 FT), 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnovers, and 20 PIR.

Real: Guerschon Yabusele 17 (8 REB, 27 PIR), Alberto Abalde 15, Anthony Randolph 13 (12 REB), Vincent Poirier 11 (8 REB), Trey Thompkins 10, Jeffrey Taylor 10.

Baskonia: Wade Baldwin 16 (6 AST), Steven Enoch 11, Rokas Giedraitis 10, Matthew Costello 9, Jayson Granger 8, Alec Peters 8 (5 REB).

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