By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow notched the sixth top offensive performance for the club in the modern EuroLeague era to beat Gran Canaria 106 – 91 on the road in a manner perhaps more difficult than what the final score might show.
And that’s because Gran Canaria put up quite the fight against the Russian powerhouse. The hosts closed halftime up 55 – 52 by taking advantage of their opponents’ 12 turnovers plus their hot hand from beyond the arc (7/10), and were for the majority of the third quarter. CSKA took the lead near the end of that period but it wasn’t until the final minutes of the game that they truly secured their win.
With the score 84 – 86 in the mid of the fourth period, Alec Peters (in his best game this season so far) fired two 3-pointers to help CSKA make a 2 – 8 partial score that put them a three-possession distance. Dimitris Itoudis’ team was never threatened afterward and when Nando De Colo De Colo dropped a 3-point dagger and then scored a layup for the 90 – 102 with 1:37 remaining the game was basically over.
De Colo finished with a game-high 22 points plus six assists while Cory Higgins had 17 points and four dimes. Will Clyburn had 15 points and eight rebounds and Peters scored 15 and grabbed five boards.
For Gran Canaria, that fell to 1-3 with this result, Clevin Hannah scored 17 and dished out six assists. DJ Strawberry dropped 16 points and Chris Evans 14.