By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
In a defensive battle marked by a scary injury, Unicaja secured the win, 77-63, against PAOK mateco Wednesday night.
A gold medalist with Spain in the 2022 EuroBasket, Dario Brizuela scored a season-high 27 points as the team based in Malaga jumped to 3-0 in Group G of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season. Standing out in the low-scoring Gameday 3 affair, he connected 10/14 from the field. Kendrick Perry chipped in ten points and Alberto Diaz paired his nine points with six assists.
The players guided by Ibon Navarro were held to 6/24 from beyond the arc but delivered a solid defensive effort for the fifth win in a row, including the Qualifiers. The visitors were forced down to 1-2, one point behind second-placed JDA Dijon and one ahead of winless Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari.
In a scary moment at Palacio Municipal, Zaccheus Darko-Kelly suffered an ankle injury and was stretchered off the court. Limited to a 32-second outing, he went to the hospital for medical exams. “His injury is serious. I believe he is going to miss the rest of the season,” noted PAOK play-caller Aris Lykogiannis.
The Greek outfit led for only two minutes but kept it tight until midway through the fourth quarter. A 5-0 sprint turned a four-point deficit into a nine-point handicap with less than two minutes on the clock. On the wrong end of late momentum, the gap then exploded into double-digits.
A four-game winning streak across all competitions was snapped despite Dutch Yannick Franke putting up 18 points. Tyler Polley and Jalen Riley followed with 12 points apiece.
Postgame press conference:
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League