By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Effective down the stretch, Jerrick Harding kept steady for Baxi Manresa fueling the 76-73 victory against Limoges CSP Tuesday evening.
Harding, 24, carrying the experience of 16 Basketball Champions League games with ERA Nymburk, was back at it in Gameday 1 of the 2022-23 Regular Season Group F. Besides connecting a key triple on his way to 16 points, he found Tyson Perez open for a three-pointer deeper in the fourth quarter and a four-point lead with 34 seconds left. Still, Darrin Govens missed the chance to force overtime from beyond the arc in the dying seconds of the thriller.
Loaned from EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, Giordano Bortolani knocked in eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. Dani Perez and Justin Hamilton put in ten points each. Tyson Perez ended up with nine points for the team of experienced tactician Pedro Martinez.
For the team coached by Massimo Cancellieri, down 0-3 in France’s Betclic Elite LNB Pro A, Nicolas Lang tucked in a couple of threes in the last minute en route to a game-high 19 points. Govens followed with 14 points. Bryce Jones stayed on the injury list.
Without injured Guillem Jou and Babatunde Olumuyiwa at Palais de Sports de Beaublanc, the runner-ups of the previous edition of the BCL enjoyed a happy entrance to the third campaign overall in FIBA’s top European club continental competition, on the heels of a 1-1 start in Spain’s Liga Endesa. At 1-0, they matched Benfica on top of the four-team group standings, while CSP settled at 0-1 along with VEF Riga.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League