By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Monaco was the last team to stand in this 7DAYS EuroCup season and lifted its first-ever title with an 86-83 win in Game 2 of the finals against UNICS Kazan! Monaco is also the first-ever French team to have reached this achievement in the competition’s history.
Rob Gray posted 17 of his total 25 points in the first half, including 4-7 from the three-point line as fearless Monaco roared in Kazan with a sweep over UNICS in a thrilling finale.
After going toe-to-toe for nearly 40 minutes, Jamar Smith hit a jumper in the final 15 seconds to place UNICS up by two (83-81), before Jaleen O’Brien hit a crucial shot under the basket and received a call on his effort, to give the visitors a significant advantage towards the win.
Brien posted 16 points for Zvezdan Mitrovic’s team, while Marcos Knight and Dee Bost each had 14 points.
“I think my team really made something amazing this season. You know the history: how we started, how we played with a short roster. But you saw tonight we really play hard, all 40 minutes in all games. We give our maximum. Of course, I am happy. Maybe tomorrow I can talk better. I am still in shock a little, but happy”, said coach Mitrovic.
John Brown played a key role for UNICS and exited the game with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jordan Theodore caused fourth-quarter trouble to the French side as he left the court with 15 points.
Coach Dimitris Priftis gave his head-up to his squad, which finished a challenging season with a bitter taste.”We lost tonight but the achievement is big and I don’t want to underestimate the effort of my guys. This is a fact. Of course, we have to face the results as men. We are responsible for that but at the same time, the fact that is we have had a very good season. The season was very good, but not perfect. Now, we have to calm down a little bit, because we have a lot of games in this period”.
It should be noted that both teams will compete for the 2021-22 EuroLeague season, as the initial access list granted two spots for the EuroCup finalists.
Photo: EuroCup