By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
SuperCopa reigning champions Gran Canaria will get to defend their title in this season’s Final after defeating Real Madrid 73 – 64 in front of their home crowd in Las Palmas.
Anzejs Pasecniks and Gal Mekel dropped 11 points each while Luke Fisher scored 10. Eulis Bez added 8 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in a richly diverse output while Shaq McKissic had 8 points plus 7 rebounds.
For Real Madrid, Gustavo Ayon finished with 17 points, Jaycee Carroll scored 14 and Trey Thompkins 10, including two big 3s that brought Real Madrid at a 5-point distance, 59 – 54 with 5 minutes left.
Yet “Blancos” needed a lot more to fully come back from a 16-point deficit, (46 – 30 in the mid of the third) and with Anthony Randolph (2 points, 1/4 from the field) and Luka Doncic (6 points, 2/6 shots, 2 assists, 3 turnovers) still recovering from the EuroBasket gold medal hangover, they didn’t manage to draw closer.
It was generally a triumph of both offense and defense for the tournament’s hosts that began by raining down fire from beyond the arc (5 triples in the first quarter) to get ahead early on and then disrupted their opponents’ attacks well enough to keep them at 38 points at the beginning of the fourth period.
This balance allowed them a spot in Saturday’s Final vs Valencia.