By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
An exciting start to the best-of-three Basketball Champions League Play-In series with Hereda San Pablo Burgos edging Darussafaka, 83-78, Tuesday evening.
Hayden Dalton completing a four-point play with 43 seconds remaining broke the last tie of Game 1. The former Wyoming standout launched his side to an 82-78 lead rounding up the 11-point effort. He also pulled down six rebounds en route for the team-high 16 efficiency rating.
Iowa State product Tyrus McGee banked in a team-high 12 points. Dani Diez and Dejan Kravic contributed ten points apiece. Captain Vitor Benite was not available for the team guided by Salva Maldonado.
The back-to-back BCL champions were coming off three losses in a row between FIBA’s premier European club competition and Spain’s ACB but managed to pick up a third win in as many games opposite Darussafaka. However, the Turkish side made out a much tougher challenge compared to the previous visit at Coliseum Burgos resulting in a defeat by a margin of 30 points about two years ago.
Puerto Rican star Isaiah Pineiro packed a game-high 21 points as Dacka was forced down to 0-7 in Champions League games on the road. Dogus Ozdemiroglu, the league leader in steals, ended up with 17 points, five assists, and two more steals in the losing effort.
The team coached by Selcuk Ernak carrying a domestic three-game winning streak and an 11-4 W-L tally in Turkey’s BSL is scheduled to host Game 2 versus Burgos next week.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League