By Cesare Milanti / info@Eurohoops.net
MALAGA, Spain – Before the 1st place final which will start at 20:00 CET between Telekom Baskets Bonn and Hapoel Jerusalem, Unicaja Malaga and Lenovo Tenerife put on a show in their umpteenth clash of the season after facing each other in the ACB and in the Copa del Rey. Despite electric support from thousands of home fans, the 2022 champions won 84-79 and took home the bronze medal.
Once again, the Marcelinho Huertas-Giorgi Shermadini duo was crucial for Txus Vidorreta’s team. After respectively being named into the 1st and 2nd All-Basketball Champions League Teams, the Brazilian point guard went close to a double-double with 10 points and 8 assists, becoming one of six players with 60+ points scored in the BCL Final Four history. The Georgian center added 12 points off the bench.
Elgin Cook provided 11 points with 2/4 from beyond the arc after not scoring any single three in his previous nine BCL games. After talking in the pre-game with his fellow countryman and likely childhood idol Luis Scola, who followed the game next to the Basketball Champions League CEO Patrick Comninos, Leandro Bolmaro didn’t score any points. Jaime Fernandez had 12 points and 4 assists.
“These medals mean a lot to us,” mentioned Fernandez, “We respect this league. I think it’s getting better year by year.”
Kendrick Perry led the way for Unicaja after being honored by the home crowd with loud chants. The playmaker of the Montenegrin national team provided 20 points, including two with 4:24 left in the first quarter from an outstanding circus shot. He was the only player on Ibon Navarro’s team to score in double-digits.
“You don’t play and grind the whole season, working hard every single day, to play in this game. You want to be in the Final,” explained David Kravish describing the approach to the third-place game. The 30-year-old forward put up eight points and eight rebounds.
A close game decided on details
The two teams combined for 60 points in the first quarter, as Lenovo Tenerife went up 31-29. This is the first time Unicaja conceded more than 30 points in a single quarter of a BCL game and only the 4th time in 123 BCL games Tenerife scored more than 30 points in the first quarter, with 21 of their points (68%) coming from the bench.
They closed the second quarter with 53 points scored, which is the most conceded by Unicaja in the 1st half of a BCL game, and is the joint-high at half-time for a team in a BCL medal-winning game with AEK vs Monaco in 2018. Nothing changed in the third quarter, as Lenovo Tenerife entered the last ten minutes in a leading position, from where they won their previous 20 BCL games.
However, in the last period, the home team erupted for a 17-7 run to come back, tying things up at 76-76 with 1:43 left. This wasn’t sufficient, as a three-point dagger by Aaron Doornekamp with 00:13 seconds left gave Lenovo Tenerife the win.
While they struggled in the semifinal against Hapoel Jerusalem beyond the arc (5/22, 22.7%), Lenovo Tenerife improved a lot at shooting threes (14/28, 50%) against the home side. Both teams had a high contribution from bench players (Malaga 49, Tenerife 55); the Canarian side dished way more assists (24 vs 11), while Unicaja Malaga grabbed more rebounds than its opponents (35 vs 28).
“I have already said that we need to be in other competitions, take the chance to play in the EuroLeague,” Vidorreta responded to a question about the club’s progress noting that he agrees with Aleksandar Dzikic on both Unicaja and Tenerife being EuroLeague-level teams.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League