By Stefan Djordjevic/ sdjordjevic@eurohoops.net
Hereda San Pablo Brugos continues its dream run in the Basketball Champions League as they once again reach the semifinals, this time around at the expense of Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon with 86-77 on the scoreboard.
The Israelis had a 39-35 halftime lead and held on for around 25 minutes, primarily thanks to Isaiah Miles who put on a perfect 13-point half with 3-3 from long range. In fact, Holon shot 7-14 by the break from the three-point territory compared to Burgos‘ somewhat surprising 3-13.
Burgos, however, stayed close thanks to dominating the offensive boards and it seemed as it was only a matter of the moment when Vitor Benite will catch fire. Which he did, as he sparked the game-winning 9-0 run at the end of third and the begging of the fourth quarter.
Benite banked in game-high 26 points, despite going 2-9 from deep, while Alex Renfroe paced the team with 14 points and ten assists. Jasiel Rivero added 11 points.
“I like the way we react and fight through it. We look for the simple stuff to help build our team in the game. I think it was a good start to take away the anxiety and everything, against a really good team”, said Benite after the big win.
As the game continued to slip from Hapoel, a bit of tension crawled into their ranks and it culminated with coach Stefanos Dedas getting ejected after two technical fouls at the four-minute mark.
“Big frustration right now. We came with a lot of confidence and energy but I believe they played smarter than us today. We made too many stupid defensive in the second half that cost us the victory”, said Hapoel forward Maxime De Zeeuw after the game.
Miles finished with 23 points for Holon while De Zeeuw scored 11 and Tyrus McGee ten points.
After winning the title in their European debut last season, Burgos will now have a chance to fight for another one as they try to become the first team to win it twice in a row. However, they will have to get past SIG Strasbourg first in tomorrow’s semifinals.
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League