Unicaja's Kelati ties triples record with 9!
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Although his team didn't make it to the Quarterfinal Playoffs, swingman Thomas Kelati of Unicaja gave the home fans in Malaga, Spain something special by which to remember the season on Wednesday as he tied the Euroleague three-point shooting record. Kelati matched the most three-pointers made in a single Euroleague game all decade when he downed 9 of 19 attempts from long distance in Unicaja's blowout 99-64 victory over Lottomatica Roma. Remarkably, Kelati had tied the record with 9 three-pointers made in 13 attempts during just his first 16 minutes on the floor. He made 6 of 7 from downtown in the first quarter, played only the last seconds of the second, missing again, then made 3 of his first 5 tries in the third quarter. That matched the existing Euroleague record of 9 set by Saulius Stombergas of Tau Ceramica, without a miss, on April 4, 2001. Kelati missed his next two third-quarter tries to set a new record and sat down, but returned in the final quarter. After missing once again, he took his 17th attempt with just under 2 minutes left and nailed it, but he was ruled to have stepped on the line for a two-pointer. Two more tries after that also rimmed out, including one at the final buzzer. Kelati, who finished with a Euroleague career-high 33 points, was going to be a big part of Unicaja's offense on Wednesday in any case, as the team was missing centers Robert Archibald and Boniface Ndong, as well as swingman Jiri Welsch. After Kelati and Stombergas, an 8-for-13 performance by Milos Vujanic of Fortitudo Bologna in 2004 ranks third, while at least eight players with 7 three-point attempts follow.
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Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Euroleague.net
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