By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
In the Canary Islands clash of the 2023 Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Jaime Fernandez scored 26 points in 20 minutes as Lenovo Tenerife defeated Gran Canaria 89 – 73 to become the third team to advance to the semifinals after Real Madrid and Unicaja Malaga. The winning team led up to 25 points with five minutes remaining as their opponents just managed to trim that deficit a bit down the stretch.
Tenerife, the recently crowned Intercontinental champions, had a superlative offensive game from the start, to lead 55 – 38 at halftime and 68 – 46 halfway through the third period. Coach Txus Vidorreta’s players were particularly strong from the 3-point line, having 8 – 13 triples at the break, two of them courtesy of Fernandez.
Gran Canaria wasn’t able to match Tenerife after a balanced first period (30-25) and trailed by a margin beyond 20 for most of the second half. John Shurna (18 points) and Khalifa Diop (12 points, seven rebounds) stood out from the Las Palmas side.
Apart from Fernandez, Bruno Fitipaldo scored 15 points for Tenerife. Giorgi Shermadini had 12 points and Sasu Salin dropped 11 points.