By Antigoni Zachari / info@eurohoops.net
Lenovo Tenerife greeted the new season with a nail-biter and Aaron Doornekamp saved the day against Basketball Champions League debutants Prometey.
With the game tied to 70 points and three seconds to go, Bruno Fitipaldo connected with Doornekamp to produce the game-winner for the former champions that escaped Ukraine with a 73-70 victory.
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— Basketball Champions League (@BasketballCL) October 6, 2021
And what an intense season opener this has been for both sides! Sasu Salin posted his best-ever performance in BCL and set sights to enter this week’s Best Five with a staggering 33-point performance, to go along with 8 rebounds and 2 assists in a spectacular showdown for Group A.
Despite being among the newcomers not only in BCL but on the European stage overall, the Ukrainian side put up a real challenge for the former champs and recovered from a stale third quarter (26-4) with ease early in the fourth and remained resilient and competitive until the end.
Fitipaldo added up to the list of top scorers with 13 points, Julian Gamble added 10 and Doornekamp finished the game with 9 points.
Prometey’s D’Angelo Harrison put up a lot of trouble for the Spanish side with 22 points, 6 rebounds, while Chris Dowe added 12 points. Miro Bilan and Ilya Sydorov shared 10 points apiece.
Watch the post-game press conference:
Earlier in Gameday 1, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg registered its first victory against Banco di Sardegna Sassari.
Photo: Basketball Champions League