By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
On Tuesday’s Basketball Champions League Quarter-Finals action, Unicaja Malaga and UCAM Murcia respectively swept Promitheas Patras and MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg to advance to this year’s Final Four. On Wednesday, instead, both encounters ended up in a 1-1 situation.
First, Tofas Bursa forced Game 3 against two-time champions Lenovo Tenerife, bringing the series back to Canarias; later on, Vassilis Spanoulis’ Peristeri overcame the BCL reigning champions Telekom Baskets Bonn, winning 90-62 in Greece and extending its chances to get to Belgrade’s Stark Arena.
After failing to deliver in Game 1 on the road, Joe Ragland had a huge impact on Peristeri’s success at home in Game 2, almost ending with his eighth double-double of this Basketball Champions League season. He had 21 points and 9 assists while shooting 9/13 from the field in 22:24 minutes.
Displaying some ankle-breaking plays on Telekom Baskets Bonn’s guards, Elijah Mitrou-Long doubled his offensive showcase after a 22-point losing effort in Germany; back home, Nazareth’s brother had 17 points. Jermaine Love and Trevor Thompson combined 32 points in their team’s win.
After averaging 18.0 points over his previous two road games in the competition, Glynn Watson ended with a good all-around night of 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists despite the defeat. Coming off the bench, Till Pape had 13 points in Roel Moors’ team’s loss, while Noah Kirkwood scored 10 points.
The blue-and-yellow Greek side created separation even before halftime, extending the lead to 23 points (69-46) at the end of the third quarter, dominating in the paint by scoring X points more than Bonn (50 vs 32). Game 3 will be played on April 16 at 20:00 CET in Bonn’s Telekom Dome.
Enjoy the post-game press conference:
PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League
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