By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Facing elimination Basketball Champions League Season X, powered by Ameresco SUNEL, NHSZ-Szolnoki Olajbanyasz rushed to a 21-point cushion and bounced back after trailing early in the fourth quarter to prevail, 89-80, in PalaTrieste on Thursday.
With the best-of-three Play-In series tied 1-1, Game 3 in Miskolc’s DVTK Arena on Tuesday will decide which side will join La Laguna Tenerife, Dreamland Gran Canaria, and ERA Nymburk in Group L of the Round of 16.
Dominating Game 2 in Trieste, Le’tre Darthard put in a career-high 33 points on 10/18 field goals, including 5/10 from beyond the arc for the reigning champions of Hungary’s NB I/A. Somogyi put in 12 points, ten assists, eight rebounds, and one steal. Lasting 37:40, slightly more than the two aforementioned main contributors, Brady Skeens combined 17 points and 12 rebounds for a seventh double-double over eight BCL career appearances. Tamas Pallai (knee) remained out for the team coached by Vedran Bosnic.
The hosts, missing injured Colbey Ross and Mady Sissoko once more, were outrebounded, 42-29. They stormed back from a poor start and reclaimed the lead early in the fourth period, but no further than a couple of brief one-point advantages. Jahmi’us Ramsey netted a team-high 18 points, with Jarrod Uthoff settling at 15 points and Juan Toscano-Anderson getting ten points.
Before next week’s decider, the team coached by Israel Gonzalez is scheduled to host Acqua S.Bernardo Cantu in PalaTrieste on Sunday, looking to improve a current 6-8 tally in Italy’s LBA UnipolSai. Olaj, which leads the Hungarian League at 14-1, has an away fixture opposite SZTE-Szedeak on Sunday.