 Gran Canaria 2014 turned around its fortunes in Group C with a resounding 66-90 road win over Buducnost in Podgorica, Montenegro on Tuesday to force a tie between them for second place. Both have 1-1 records, while Budivelnik is in first place at 2-0. In a group where road teams have won three of the four games so far, Gran Canaria's victory couldn't be called a surprise, although some of the things that happened in it were unusual. For instance, Buducnost scorer Vladimir Dragicevic poured in 25 points in the game's first 16 minutes. Then, however, he was stopped cold by the Gran Canaria defense, with hardly a shot taken afterwards. Gran Canaria then blew open what had been a close game in the first half by scoring the first 17 points after the break - a bust-out that is usually the domain of home teams. it was a veteran, group effort that won it in the end, as C.J. Wallace and Jaycee Carroll scored 14 points each for the winners, while Jim Moran added 11, Tomas Bellas and Michael Bramos 10 each. Dragicevic finished by shooting 8 for 11 on two-pointers, 1 for 1 from the arc, and 6 for 6 at the foul line. Vladimir Mihailovic followed him with 10 points, while Marko Simonovic and Aleksej Nesovic had 9 each,b ut the rest of the team scored only 13.
Carroll started the game from downtown before Dragicevic got Buducnost going with 4 early ponts on the way to an 8-5 lead. His next two baskets helped Buducnost stay a step ahead, but Gran Canaria was gaining as Moran, Carroll and Xavi Rey all got baskets to make it 14-13. Dragicevic added a pair of three-point plays as his scoring soared into double digits and his team led 23-18 after 7 minutes. Gran Canaria tried to keep up, and finally tied on a basket by Bellas and free throws by Sitapha Savane, whose layup shortly after gave the visitors a new lead, 25-27. Dragicevic ended his remarkable, 21-point first quarter with a triple, but it wasn't enough to keep Gran Canaria from leading 28-30 after 10 minutes. Taurean Green dueled with Dragicevic early in the second quarter, and with 5 points in a row soon had his team up 30-37. Mihalovic and Marko Scekic soon had the hosts within 34-37, but again Gran Canaria pulled away on 5 points by Wallace. Aleksey Nesovic sparked the hosts with a three-point play to cut the difference to 39-43, but Wallace and Michael Bramos lengthened it again to 41-48 at halftime.
Carroll began the second half as he did the first, striking from downtown for a double-digit lead, 41-51. Moran quickly took the hint and blasted shots the same distance twice inm a row for a sudden 41-57 difference. Wallace put back an offensive rebound and scored another basket that came with a foul shot as the lead steadily soared until a layup by Carroll ended a 0-17 run since halftime with Gran Canaria totally in charge at 41-65. Meanwhile, the Gran Canaria defense was putting the clamps on Dragicevic, who had all his 25 points in the first 16 minutes, but didn't get a shot off since then as Bellas ended the third quarter with a triple to put the visitors up 49-73. The beat went on in the final quarter as Gran Canaria stopped Dragicevic from doing damage and protected its 20-point lead without incident. It only dropped below that mark once, at 64-83 in the next-to-last minute, so for good measure the visitors down the stretch from Rey and Bramos in case they come in handy in the final standings.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
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