By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
After being down 36-34 at halftime, Surne Bilbao Basket managed to come back to get the win in front of the Miribilla’s crowd, beating Darussafaka 85-75 in its Round of 16’s opener.
Ludde Hakanson, the heart and soul of Jaume Ponsarnau’s team, led the way by almost capturing a double-double with 12 points and 8 assists.
Adam Smith, who joined him from the beginning in the backcourt, was the highest scorer on the winning side with 14 points. Off the bench, Michale Kyser and Francis Alonso added 12 points each.
For the black-and-green team, Ercan Osmani, who has averaged 14.3 points and 10 rebounds in his last three BCL appearances after averaging 6.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in his previous three games with Darussafaka, scored 19 points in the losing effort.
Markel Starks and Wayne McCullough tried to help by combining for 24 points, but a very small contribution came from Gabriel Olaseni. The 31-year-old center had only 8 points and 3 rebounds.
Despite losing way more of the ball (Bilbao 20 turnovers, Darussafaka 9) and scoring fewer points from the bench (37 vs 33), the Basque side came out with the win.
With this victory, Surne Bilbao Basket reached the reigning BCL champions of Lenovo Tenerife on top of Group L. On Tuesday, Txus Vidorreta’s team beat the other Spanish team in the group, UCAM Murcia.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League