By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Going up 68-62 with 6:32 minutes left, Lenovo Tenerife looked comfortable in the Quarter-Finals Game 1 against Tofas Bursa at home, but things got difficult in the final stretch of the encounter.
The Turkish team tied it up at 70-70 before Aaron Doornekamp could put the two-time BCL champions back in control once again following up. From that moment, the Canarians never lost the lead and won 83-77, going up 1-0 in the best-of-three series for a Final Four ticket.
If Txus Vidorreta’s team found the upper hand, the credit must be given once again to the immortal Marcelinho Huertas. After never scoring 20 points or more in his first 65 games in the competition, after turning 40 years old he now has four such games. Tonight, he had 30 points (11/18 FG) and 8 assists.
His pick-and-roll partner Giorgi Shermadini was also impressive in Lenovo Tenerife’s victory, contributing with 18 points and 5 rebounds, shooting perfectly over 10 attempts at the charity stripe.
J.J. O’Brien tied his personal high this season with 21 points in his team’s defeat, while Austin Wiley went close to a double-double with 9 points and 10 boards. Entering this stage on a four-game scoring streak of 10 points or more, Cassius Winston had 20 in Tofas Bursa’s loss, while also adding 6 assists.
If they come out victorious in next week’s Game 2, scheduled on April 10 at 18:00 CET, Lenovo Tenerife will reach the Basketball Champions League Final Four for the third straight year. In this year’s semifinals, they would face the winner of the series between Bonn and Peristeri.
Post-game press conference:
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League