Canadians Abroad: Nik Stauskas Leads The Way In Baskonia Win
Veteran of six NBA seasons, Mississauga's Nik Stauskas had been one the headline signings in the 2019-20 Euroleague season. He had served his first European club, Saski Baskonia, faithfully both domestically and in the Euroleague, with his standout performance being when he and the Spanish club paid visit to the Serbian capital to take on Crvena Zvezda.
These two teams both had 5-8 records coming into this one on December 12th 2019, and though there was still plenty of time left in the season, the playoff picture was already looking precarious and both were wanting wins to get them closer to the top eight.
When the game began, Stauskas hit his first shot of the game with little under two minutes played, cutting Crvena Zvezda's early lead down to one. Luca Vildoza followed this up with two three-pointers, with another coming from Tornike Shengalia and Youssoupha Fall hit from close range to put Basknoia up by eight after nine minutes.
Ilmane Diop took control for Baskonia in the second quarter, while the host team shook off their early struggles, going from down ten to within one point of their visitors at the end of the first half.
Stauskas had eight unanswered points to begin the second half, the last of which was a three pointer. Lorenzo Brown, Ognjen Kuzmic and Charles Jenkins, between them, began closing the gap for Crvena Zvezda, but Stauskas then brought an end to their scoring streak with another three. He followed this with another with two seconds left in the third, bringing Baskonia's scoreline 56-43
Stauskas and Shengalia were still on fire from three-point accuracy at the beginning of the fourth, while Brown and Dejan Davidovac kept trying to claw back points for the Serbian side, mostly from the free-throw line.
Borisa Simanic also joined in Crvena Zvezda's attempt at a comeback, but still trailing by twelve points with three minutes to go, it proved too little too late. A final jump shot from Ognjen Dobric did only to reduce the final gap 72-64, Baskonia the victors on the road at the Stark Arena.
In this game Baskonia hit ten threes, four of them coming from Stauskas, who finished with a game-high 22 points. His starring role was complimented by a quality supporting cast, Shengalia added 19 points of his own, while 20 from Lorenzo Brown would be small consolation for Crvena Zvezda.
