By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Big win for Baxi Manresa over Tofas Bursa, 85-70, at Pavello Nou Congost Tuesday evening.
Head coach Pedro Martinez enjoyed six players scoring in double-digits as his side clinched first place of Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Group J by virtue of a favorable three-way tie on top of the standings.
Former Oklahoma State and St. John’s center Yankuba Sima posted a 14-point, 16-rebound double-double as the top performer of the Gameday 6 affair. Chima Moneke shared the team-high 14 points, while Luke Maye went for 12 points and nine rebounds, Elias Valtonen chipped in 11 points, and Sylvain Francisco and Joe Thomasson added ten points each.
Key player Ismael Bako was not available for the Catalonian outfit. Four weeks ago, he was sidelined with an injury to his left hand but hopes to be back in time for the BCL Quarterfinals.
The Bursa team led for only 83 seconds and was outrebounded, 50-31, at Manresa. Giving up 26 second-chance points was the biggest reason behind the defeat. However, getting knotted with the Spanish side and Darussafaka with a loss by a margin between six and 34 points was good enough for the second seed. Its Turkish rival fell in the wrong end of the three-way tie.
Heading to the BCL Quarterfinals for the second time, Elgin Cook poured a game-high 23 points to go along with seven rebounds and one block in the loss. Croatian Tomislav Zubcic and Canadian Tyler Ennis ended up with 13 points each.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League