By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After losing in Galicia in Game 2, returning to Izmir to close the best-of-three series against Rio Breogan, Pinar Karsikaya closed things up at home by getting the 86-76 win and the official ticket to the Basketball Champions League Round of 16.
On Ufuk Sarica’s team, Vitto Brown was the highest scorer with 17 points and 7 rebounds, followed by former Maccabi Tel Aviv and CSKA Moscow shooting guard Darrun Hilliard, who finished with the same amount and 5/9 from three. Errick McCollum went close to a double-double with 12 points and 7 assists.
Vernon Carey Jr., who has been dominating the scene since coming over to Izmir, went also very close to his third straight double-double by getting no enemies under the rim: he had 10 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 blocks, contributing to the green-and-red team’s victory.
Ben McLemore, who was averaging 20.5 points per game over his two Basketball Champions League appearances with Rio Breogan, the first two games of the best-of-three Play-Ins series. In Game 3, instead, he was limited by Pinar Karsiyaka’s defense to 11 points and 4/12 from the field.
Other notable performances on Veljko Mrsic’s team came from Toni Nakic, who scored 12 points – he had 11 points between the first two games of the series -, and Stefan Morimov and Matej Rudan, who combined for 21 points and 8 rebounds. Sergi Quintela had a losing effort of 14 points.
The Turkish green-and-red team will now play in the Round of 16 in Group K, facing the two-time champions of Lenovo Tenerife, last year’s runner-up of Hapoel Jerusalem, and Peristeri, which swept Rytas Vilnius 2-0 in the Play-Ins.
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League