By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
With the lead cut to six points midway through the fourth quarter, a solid finish was required for Unicaja to counter a furious rally by Promitheas in Malaga.
Seeking a second consecutive berth in the Final Four of the Basketball Champions League, securing a win, 67-54, started a best-of-three series on Wednesday.
Fueling a fourth straight win across all competitions, Dylan Osetkowski posted a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double in Game 1. Kendrick Perry produced a team-high 13 points for a win in Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena. Yankuba Sima added 12 more points and Tyson Carter scored half of his ten points in the fourth quarter. Nihad Djedovic and David Kravish sat out.
“I think we started and continued the game with a lot of ups and downs for us. Good moments, bad moments. For what we want to do in this competition, we need to string together more ups than downs for a longer period,” explained Osetkowski, “We got the win. That was important for us.”
Improving from a 24-point deficit to trailing 53-47, the visitors then fell short of completing a spectacular comeback. Hunter Hale with a game-high 14 points alongside eight assists and seven rebounds was not enough for his side to avoid an 0-1 hole in the first appearance in the Quarterfinals. “The second half kind of showed who we are as a team. The first half put us in a big hole, especially that first quarter,” admitted the 26-year-old guard.
“We were ourselves in the first half and Promitheas was themselves in the second half. So, we could see the best version of both teams,” mentioned winning head coach Ibon Navarro, “I hope my team can learn from this, keep the intensity for 40 minutes.”
Bryce Hamilton is set to join Promitheas
Earlier this week, 23-year-old shooting guard Bryce Hamilton was registered to the BCL squad of the Patras outfit. The former UNLV standout played in the G League for the South Bay Lakers through the past two seasons. Besides the continental campaign, Ilias Papatheodorou’s side sits fourth in Greece’s Stoiximan Basket League behind a 13-9 W-L tally and hosts Aris Midea on Sunday.
Before the trip to Greece for Game 2 next Tuesday, Unicaja visits BAXI Manresa in Round 28 of Spain’s Liga Endesa Regular Season on Sunday. At 22-5, second place in the standings, trailing only Real Madrid, headlines a brilliant run in the 2023-24 campaign.
Postgame press conference
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League