By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Basketball Champions League playoffs newcomer Casademont Zaragoza overpowered Lietkabelis, 76-67, for the 1-0 lead in the Round of 16 best-of-three series.
A 42-20 advantage on points scored from the bench largely made the difference on Wednesday night. Leading the reserves was Nemanja Radovic with 12 points behind 6/8 two-pointers.
“Winning the first game is always important,” underlined head coach Fisac during the post-game press conference.
Starters Dylan Ennis and D.J. Seeley shared a team-high 14 points. In his BCL debut, Jason Thompson through foul trouble still contributed with seven points and five boards.
Overall the hosts neared 67% from two-point range to overcompensate the 4/20 beyond the arc. Superiority in the paint resulted in a 38-16 scoring advantage and a 41-31 rebounding edge.
A 19-5 run stretching through the two middle periods blew the tilt open for the team coached by Porfirio Fisac. The visitors failed to match their opponents’ inside game. Three-pointers were just not there with 8/28 from deep for the night.
Zeljko Sakic made his way to 18 points at the Pabellon Principe Felipe. Tomas Dimsa followed with 16 points of his own.
“We will fight back for sure in the next game,” pointed out Sakic, “We will try our best to beat them.”
The two sides will collide for a second time next Tuesday at Lithuania. If Nenad Canak’s side ties the series 1-1, Game 3 will be back in Spain a week later.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League