By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
In a battle of real desire, Baxi Manresa battled off anxiety to prevail, 63-55, opposite MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg Friday. The Catalonia outfit advanced to the Basketball Champions League Final Four championship game.
Chima Moneke posted a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double, despite dealing with foul trouble. “This is not the final celebration,” he mentioned gazing at the fans immediately after the game, “On Sunday we hope to have the real celebration.”
“We have one more game to be champions,” added big man Yankuba Sima. He fell one-point short of his season-high with 15 points behind 6/7 shots.
Joe Thomasson and Ismael Bako chipped in ten points each.
Back in action after three weeks on the sidelines due to a foot sprain, floor general Dani Perez missed all of his eight field-goal attempts but dished out a game-high seven assists equaling the team total of the opponents to go along with two points and four rebounds. As expected, Guillem Jou (Achilles tendon surgery) and Dani Garcia (leg) were out.
The team coached by Pedro Martinez missed nine free throws and was limited to 3/15 from beyond the arc but was successful in the second Semifinal of the Final Four. On Sunday, Manresa will face ACB rival Lenovo Tenerife in Bilbao Arena for the title.
In its second Final Four appearance, the German club was forced to catch up status from the third period and did not trail by a margin larger than nine points but could not launch a genuine comeback bid. The 4/25 three-pointers did not help.
Justin Simon produced a game-high 18 points in the losing effort. “I feel like we gave it everything we had,” the St. John’s product mentioned acknowledging defeat, “We just misfired some times. We missed shots, they made shots, we did not play good defense.”
John Patrick’s side will collide with Hapoel U-NET Holon in Sunday’s third-place game. Veteran Tremmell Darden was unavailable for the Semifinal.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League