By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
BELGRADE, Serbia – In front of their fans in the Martin Carpena Arena, Unicaja Malaga left last year’s Basketball Champions League Final Four with a strong bitter taste. However, this year in Belgrade things turned out to be different, at least in the Semi-Finals.
Pushed by a passionate group of purple-and-green fans in Belgrade Arena, Ibon Navarro’s team produced a 12-0 run in the third quarter to come back leading the encounter after a significant first half from UCAM Murcia.
Then, they survived Sito Alonso’s comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, getting down by only one point. Unicaja ended up winning 80-74, facing Lenovo Tenerife in Sunday’s Final.
Tyson Carter was Malaga’s highest scorer with 14 points, booking a ticket for the big appointment. Becoming the only player on his team to have scored more than 10 points in each of Unicaja’s three games in the BCL Final Four, Kendrick Perry dragged his team to victory with 12 points. Tyler Kalinoski and Dylan Osetkowski were also huge, contributing with 10 points each.
“I think people don’t know how hard this competition is. Being a favorite is a privilege, it’s something that you gain. But you have to know how to manage this pressure. This is the difference between a very good team and a winning team, we’re trying to make this gap shorter. It’s not easy, let’s see on Sunday”, Ibon Navarro commented after the win.
On Sito Alonso’s team, Marko Todorovic was by far the biggest attraction, ending with 18 points over 8/11 from the field and 5 rebounds. Dylan Ennis, who became the 18th player to have made 700 or more points in the BCL history, ended the encounter with 10 points and 5 assists.
“I’m very proud of my team, but it’s not enough. We came here to beat Unicaja and we didn’t get it. We dominated the game 75.0% of the time because we were playing much better. We need to improve as a club, Unicaja in my eyes is like a EuroLeague team for so many things. We need to respect this competition and try to get the bronze medal against Peristeri”, UCAM Murcia’s head coach commented.
Roller-coaster Spanish clash in Belgrade Arena
Sito Alonso’s team started the game strong by going up 15-7, but Unicaja Malaga quickly replied with a 6-0 run to reduce the gap to two points (17-15). From then on, UCAM Murcia tried to make an early escape with nine points in a row, finding an 11-point lead (26-15) to close the first quarter. 26 points were the joint-second most for a team in the 1st quarter of a BCL Semi-Finals.
Managing to keep the most accurate team from 3-pointers since the start of 2024 in the Basketball Champions League inefficient from beyond the arc (0/6 at halftime), UCAM Murcia closed the second quarter with a 7-point margin (40-33).
Starting the second half, Dylan Ennis went high for a dunk to power his team up. However, last year’s 4th-place team fought back with Tyler Kalinoski in charge, entering a 12-0 run to turn things around and lead 50-49. Simon Birgander interrupted it at 3:02 on the clock in the third, scoring four consecutive points. As the third quarter’s buzzer was about to sound, Tyson Carter banked in from three for the 59-55.
With 4:00 minutes left in the game, the former Zenit Saint Petersburg guard did it again, extending his side’s advantage to 10 points (72-62). After not scoring for the whole third quarter, Marko Todorovic brought his team back within four points (72-68) with back-to-back three-pointers. At 2:12 left, Howard Sant-Roos had a 2+1 play to reduce the gap only to one point (72-71).
However, Tyler Kalinoski was clutch once again from deep, followed by his teammate Tyson Carter, once again. Before the decisive three-pointer at 55.6 seconds left in the game, Rodions Kurucs missed two free throws out of two. Denying Dylan Ennis’ late two-point attempt, Dylan Osetkowski cancelled all of UCAM Murcia’s chances.
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PHOTO CREDIT: Basketball Champions League