By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dominating the encounter since the very first minute, Unicaja Malaga beat UCAM Murcia 83-67 to get ahead in the 2023 Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals best-of-three series.
Dario Brizuela ended the game as the highest-scorer of Unicaja with 19 points and 2 steals in 23:47 minutes on the court. Alberto Diaz had to leave the game in the second quarter due to a sprain on his left ankle. Nihad Dedovic scored 10.
Kendrick Perry, who took the Andalusian team on his shoulders on an emotional note, had 9 with 3 rebounds, while Jonathan Barreiro provided 8 points off the bench.
On UCAM Murcia’s end, Artem Pustovyi won the duel against Malaga’s big men under the basket and ended with 11 points and 3 rebounds. Nemanja Radovic added 10 points and 5 rebounds.
Thaddus McFadden, who won the Basketball Champions League in back-to-back fashion with San Pablo Burgos, reached the 4th place in the BCL all-time scoring list with 759 points. and surpassed both Tyrus McGee and Miro Bilan by scoring 9 against the home side.
Unicaja Malaga completely monopolized the game, forcing UCAM Murcia to record 16 turnovers and get 10 steals. They shared the ball better (17 vs 9 assists), and got more points both from turnover (23 vs 9) and in second-chance opportunities (13 vs 7).
The 2023 Copa del Rey champions are now leading 1-0 in the best-of-three series against UCAM, and Game 2 will be played in Murcia on April 12 at 20:30 CET.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League