By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Leading throughout, Hereda San Pablo Burgos beat Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem, 92-65, to start the Basketball Champions Final Eight in Athens.
The Spanish side coached by Joan Penarroya enjoyed a strong performance by Dejan Kravic. The Serbian-Canadian newcomer fed effectively in the paint banked his first seven shots en route for 18 points. He also grabbed ten rebounds adding on his game-high 28 efficiency rating.
“Once the first basket went in, I felt good about myself,” he said in the post-game press conference, “I just continued to try and play with energy and do everything I could to help the team.”
Thad McFadden converted 11 out of his game-high 18 points in the second quarter cementing a comfortable lead. Jordan Sakho contributed with 13 points and Alex Renfroe registered ten points plus six assists in the lopsided victory.
The main storyline coming out of the mistake-prone Israeli club was recently-added Nikos Pappas. He provided a boost late in the first quarter but Burgos quickly reaffirmed itself in a commanding position. The Greek swingman ended up with 13 points. A late surge got Luka Mitrovic to 13 points, TaShawn Thomas and Suleiman Braimoh put up 12 each.
“Almost everything went wrong for us,” admitted head coach Oded Kattash, “It was a tough loss, the way we played was tough. We knew that we had to play a perfect game to have a chance to win but obviously it wasn’t our night.”
Missing injured captain, J’Covan Brown, and struggling to capture form early in the 2020-21 season, Hapoel completed its Champions League run in the quarterfinals for the second time. The first sprint to the eight top teams was ended by another Spanish team, Iberostar Tenerife, in 2018-19.
As for the winning side, Burgos extended its first European club competition run earning a spot in Friday’s semifinal against the winner of the second Wednesday quarterfinal featuring Turk Telekom and JDA Dijon.
The post-game press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League