By Antonis Stroggylakis team / info@eurohoops.net
ATHENS — Basket Zaragoza punched the last remaining ticket for the Basketball Champions League semifinals by defeating fellow Spanish side and 2017 champion Iberostar Tenerife 87 – 81. They will face tournament host and 2017 champ AEK.
Tenerife had come back from down 10 in the third quarter to tie the score 76 – 76 with 2:23 remaining, courtesy of Giorgi Shermadini. Nicolas Brussino then stole the ball to make the layup and one that put his team up 79 – 76.
After a missed layup attempt, Shermadini made his fifth foul for Brussino, and Tenerife coach Txus Vidorreta protested the call, only to get ejected after being given his second technical. They both head together to their team’s locker room as Brussino and Robin Benzig handed an 82 – 76 lead to Zaragoza.
Aaron Doorknekamp kept Tenerife alive with a triple for the 84 – 81 but then DJ Seeley went 2-2 from the charity stripe and then scored the basket to secure his team’s victory.
Benzig and Brussino were also the top performers for Zaragoza with 17 and 12 points respectively plus five rebounds apiece. Tryggvi Hlinason and Jason Thompson contributed 11 points and seven rebounds each for Diego Ocampo’s team that had taken a 61 – 51 lead in the third period thanks to an 11-0 run.
Tenerife made a turnaround with Shermadini finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds. Doorknekamp posted 12 points and eight rebounds while Marcelinho Huertas added 12 points as well along with eight assists.
The aftermath according to Tenerife coach Txus Vidorreta was that his team was really careless with the ball, while also he had complaints from the referees: “Many turnovers and officiating decisions and with these, it’s very difficult to compete”