 A close game was broken open in the last period when Gran Canaria 2014 took a valuable road win at Budivelnik on Tuesday night by 66-72. The win allows
Granca to get closer to the Last 16 in Group C, but has not sealed its fate yet since Buducnost also defeated Siauliai. Now, Granca is sole leader in the
standings with a 4-1 record and Budivelnik drops to 3-2, tied with Buducnost. The first half was close, but a 0-7 run to start the last period allowed the
guests to build a oduble-digit lead that was too muc of an obstacle for the hosts to overcome. Jaycee Carroll led the winners with 17 points and no miss,
Xavi Rey added 12 and Taurean Green had 10. For Budivelnik, Andy Betts had 16 points and 8 boards, Billy Keys added 13 and Andriy Agafonov posted 10.
With a starting 0-4, Gran Canaria 2014 was starting to settle down on the court, but Budivelnik didn't lose focs and quickly jumped ahead at 7-6 when Lamayne
Wilson hit his shot. From then on, neither team managed to pull away by more than three points as Andriy Agafonov's layup closed the first period with a 17-
16 lead for the hosts. Neither team managed to build big leads in the second quarter either. Gran Canaria, led by a stellar Jaycee Carroll that scored 15
points with no miss in the first half, including three triples, was the main referent for the guests in offense while Budivelnik showed more collective
effort on the offensive end for a 22-24 after Agafonov and Javier Beiran traded threes. Constant lead changes were stopped when Carroll hit two straight
threes and then another basket to close the first two quarters with a Granca edge at 35-40.
Things stayed close throughout the third period, too. Andy Betts managed to tie the game at 40-40 after a 5-0 Budivelnik starting run, but after that, Granca
kept control in its hands for the rest of the period. The biggest margin of the guests never went beyond the five points however, as Spencer Nelson hit a
bucket for 52-57 and finally, Xavi Rey scored from underneath for the 52-59 that broke the boundary and put an end to the third period. A starting 0-7 for
Granca in the last period opened things up a little with a 52-66 lead for the guests after five straight points by Beiran. From that moment on, it was too
hard to Budivelnik to try to come back into the game. Billy Keys hit a three-point play to trim the deficit under the 10 points, 62-70, but despite having
the last scoring possessions of the game, it was not enough for the hosts as Gran Canaria 2014 escaped Budivelnik with a 66-72 win that puts the team closer
to the Last 16.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Eurocupbasketball.com
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