By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In what was perhaps the most intense game of this season’s Eurocup, Gran Canaria beat Galatasaray 94 – 8 (OT) for their second semifinal match, but it was the Turkish team that advanced to the Finals thanks to an aggregate score of 169 – 170! Quite possibly the… sweetest defeat ever for coach Ergin Ataman and his players.
One free throw from the hands of ErrickMcCollum (16 points, 5 rebounds, 11 fouls won) in the last seconds with the score 94 – 80, followed by a huge defense by Vladimir Micov on the other end of the court, sealed the final result which brought Galatasaray to the Eurocup Finals for the first time in the club’s history. The Serbian swingman was also his team’s first scorer by dropping 21 points (he also grabbed 7 rebounds), plus the lay up that had forced the extra period with only seconds to go in the regular time.
DJ Seeley finished the game with 23 points and 5 assists for Gran Canaria, but missed two key free throws in the last minute of the game. Alen Omic added 16 points and 7 rebounds, winning many battles against Stephane Lasme and Chuck Davis inside the paint, and being more or less being responsible for them getting fouled out. But some smart overplay defenses by Galatasaray erased this advantage that their opponents could have used better, in a critical moment of the match.
The guests were the ones that began the game in a fiery manner while coach Reneses player’s answered in an appropriately high scoring tempo during a first quarter that can be described with something like “defenses be damned”, since the score after 10 minutes was 27 – 29. Slowly, yet steadily, Gran Canaria started to gain the upper hand, beginning to build a lead and become really threatening. The danger started to become quite real for the guests, when in the end of the third period, Pablo Aguilar made it 66 – 54 with a three-point basket.
Galatasaray proceeded to attack through gradually more and more half court offenses, controlling the rhythm and reducing the difference to single digits. Yet Gran Canaria responded aggressively on both ends of court, increasing their lead once more. Another bomb from behind the arc by Aguilar brought his team to a vantage point concerning the qualification by making it 90 – 74, with six seconds to go! With a personal basket, Micov made things even, moments before the final buzzer.
Generally, both teams succumbed to one error after the other in overtime, whether that was a badly planned offense, a turnover or the aforementioned missed free throws, especially by Gran Canaria. It was obvious that the smallest positive action will have a large impact on the final score, and the team that managed to complete these difference-making plays, was no other than Galatasaray.