By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Despite a performance for the ages by Braian Angola, UCAM Murcia got the 97-92 home victory against Pinar Karsiyaka to go 1-0 in the Play-In series.
Jordan Davis played as a leader for the hosts, scoring 16 points with 6/11 FG. Nemanja Radovic had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds but got fouled out with 2:26 left in the fourth.
The back-to-back EuroLeague champion with Anadolu Efes James Anderson had a solid game against the Turkish team, with 13 points and 7 rebounds.
The 28-year-old Colombian player had the best game of his life, scoring 41 points with 13/18 FG, 6/9 from deep, and 9/10 at the charity stripe, but he wasn’t enough.
Errick McCollum didn’t have his usual confidence, as he ended the game with 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists, with 0/6 from the perimeter and the missing free throw to tie things up.
Pinar Karsiyaka never led during the game and went down also by 19 points but managed to reduce the gap in the second half.
However, UCAM Murcia was way better in points in the paint (48 vs 36) and from the bench (48 vs 23). They also shot better at the line (88% vs 71.43%).
A three-pointer by Tomas Bellas and a layup in transition by James Anderson in the last thirty seconds of the game put an end to the encounter.
The winner of this best-of-three series will end up with Surne Bilbao, Lenovo Tenerife, and SL Benfica or Darussafaka in Group L of the Round of 16. Game 2 will be played on 11/01 in Turkey.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League