By Cesare Milanti/ info@eurohoops.net
MALAGA, Spain – Playing at home, the plan for Unicaja was obviously totally different. Trailing for nearly 30 minutes and eventually falling to Telekom Baskets Bonn instead sent the German club to the championship game of the Basketball Champions League Final Four.
“It’s the game that nobody wants to play,” head coach Ibon Navarro opened the postgame press conference referring to the third-place game against Lenovo Tenerife on Sunday. Certainly, an unexpected turn after the two teams faced each other in the 2023 Copa del Rey Final with the team located in Malaga prevailing, after previously eliminating ACB powerhouses Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in Badalona.
Coming in with a 14-2 record across the Qualifiers, Regular Season, Round of 16, and Playoffs of the 2022-23 edition of the Champions League, the team based in Malaga struggled to get things going Friday. Being held to 7/34 triples was the worst part of a rough shooting night.
“In a very poor game in terms of field goals, we were able to have the last action to win it. We missed it. Maybe, we didn’t deserve it. But this is sports,” added Navarro on Kendrick Perry’s effort to salvage a win at the buzzer.
“We are very sad for our fans,” he stressed regarding the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena crowd and superb atmosphere, “We were super excited with the chance to give them the opportunity to enjoy one trophy at home.”
“We had a bad day today,” summed up Dario Brizuela after sharing a team-high 12 points with Perry and Melvin Ejim, “But we had a chance to win it at the end. It is what it is. This is sports.”
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League