By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Dakota Mathias joined Lenovo Tenerife for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, the team announced Friday.
The deadline for registering new players in the Basketball Champions League expired Tuesday. Consequently, the newcomer will be eligible only for Spain’s Liga Endesa.
Mathias, 27, actually started his professional career displaying his talents in the top-flight division of Spain. Playing at Divina Seguros Joventut for most of the 2018-19 season, he averaged 8.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per contest over 12 ACB appearances. After logging 14 games played in the NBA split between the Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers and additional experience through the G League, the former Purdue standout returned for a second spell in the country by joining the team based in the Canary Islands.
Sasu Salin and Leandro Bolmaro are both dealing with injuries from the recent win against BAXI Manresa in Game 1 of the Basketball Champions League Playoffs. Prior to the most recent Champions League outing, Jaime Fernandez and Joan Sastre were added to the injury list for the team coached by Txus Vidorreta. Scanning the market for a new player, Tenerife landed Mathias.
The 18-7 record sits fourth in the domestic league’s standings. Vidorreta’s side trails co-leaders Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and Cazoo Baskonia by a margin of three games while enjoying a two-game cushion over fifth-placed Unicaja. Nine games are left in the double-legged round-robin schedule leading the top eight teams to the Playoffs.
Defending the BCL championship, Tenerife went up 1-0 in the best-of-three series versus Manresa. A potential second win would clinch a berth in the season-ending Final Four.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL