By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Except for a short Zalgiris‘ lead in the second quarter, Gran Canaria was ahead all the time and eventually secured a 73-66 home win in Round 15 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Xavier Rabaseda led the winning side with 15 points (3/4 triples) along with eight rebounds, two steals and an assist registering game-high 27 PIR. Ondrej Balvin helped with 12 in addition to Albert Oliver’s ten points.
For Zalgiris, Arturas Milaknis scored 13 while Brandon Davies and Derrick Walton added 11 each.
Gran Canaria opened the match with two triples and went ahead 12-4 forcing Zalgiris boss Sarunas Jasikevicus to call a timeout. It helped the guests respond and eventually take over the lead early in the second quarter (24-22) but their 11 turnovers in the first half were the main reason the Spaniards made a 14-2 run and went on the halftime rest with a double-digit advantage (36-26).
“A team with more energy today and better organization in basketball won the game. Even though we tried and made something of the game we did not succeed.”, Jasikevicius noted after the game.
Although the hosts started the second half furiously by nailing three shots from deep (46-29), Zalgiris showed character and came dangerously close (57-52) early in the final period. However, Marcus Eriksson and Oliver stepped in with a three-pointer each and gave some space to Gran Canaria (63-52) which was enough for the home squad to secure the win in the end.
Victor Garcia was proud of his players’ effort throughout the whole game: “It’s difficult sometimes when you make this effort in the first half to keep doing the same in the second half. The effort was really hard against an aggressive and really physical team. We can win the game from the defense and this is the idea we have and that we keep improving.”
Gran Canaria improved to 6-9 while Zalgiris now stands at a 7-8 record.
Photo Credit: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague