Gran Canaria won its third consecutive game in Group B by downing Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana 60-75 in the Slovenian capital on Wednesday. Gran Canaria now leads the Group B standings with a 7-2 record while Cedevita dropped to 3-6 with its third straight loss at home.
Gran Canaria gets yet another road win, 60-75
Dylan Ennis led the winners with 14 points, Artem Pustovyi added 12 and A.J. Slaughter scored 10 for Gran Canaria. Yogi Ferrell paced Cedevita with 11 points and Melvin Ejim and Jacob Pullen each added 10 for the visitors. Five different players struck from beyond the arc to give Gran Canaria a 7-23 margin at the end of the first quarter. Alen Omic and Edo Muric fueled a 10-0 run that brought Cedevita within 24-30, but Ennis and Nico Brussino helped the guests restore a 27-41 margin at halftime. Little changed after the break as Pustovyi and an outstanding Ennis boosted their team's margin to 48-63 at the end of the third quarter and Gran Canaria cruised the rest of the way.
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Pustovyi got Gran Canaria going with a floater and then Ennis and Sergi Garcia each struck from beyond the arc for a 2-8 lead. Miquel Salvo soon added a layup that caused Cedevita to call timeout at 3-10. Omic stepped up with a turnaround jumper that Ennis matched with a fastbreak layup. Salvo added a tip-in and Brussino, David Mutaf and Slaughter each buried three-pointers to boost the margin to 5-23 after a 0-13 run. Pullen scored in penetration to bring Cedevita a bit closer, 7-23, at the end of the first quarter.
Zach Auguste ignited the crowd with a dunk and got help from Pullen to bring the hosts within 11-23 early in the second quarter. Ilimane Diop rescued Gran Canaria with consecutive layups. Blazic and Slaughter traded shots from downtown for a 14-30 score. Omic followed a layup with a jump hook and Muric added a second-chance basket in a 10-0 run that brought Cedevita within 24-30. Gran Canaria did not panic, however, as Ennis buried a jumper, Salvo hit a floater and Brussino nailed a three-pointer for a 24-37 margin, after a 0-7 run. Pustovyi scored down low and Ilimane Diop erased Ejim's layup with a dunk for a 27-41 Gran Canaria lead at halftime.
Khalifa Diop took over with an alley-oop slam soon after the break, but Blazic bettered that with a bomb from beyond the arc. Brussino soon answered with a reverse layup that made it 31-46. Zoran Dragic stepped up with his trademark driving layup off the baseline, however, Khalifa Diop and Ennis kept the visitors fully in charge, 33-50. Pullen and Salvo traded layups and a red-hot Ennis hit a baseline jumper that broke the game open, 35-54. Ejim nailed consecutive three-pointers and got help from Yogi Ferrell to bring the hosts closer, 48-60. Pustovyi took over with a three-point play in transition, restoring a 48-63 Gran Canaria edge after 30 minutes.
Pustovyi kept pushing Gran Canaria early in the fourth quarter. Ferrell buried his second shot from beyond the arc but Slaughter made a stop-and-pop jumper, as Gran Canaria had already started to use longer possessions to run the game clock down. Blazic drilled a three-pointer, Chris Kramer scored around the basket and Luka Scuka got Cedevita within 56-71 with over 4 minutes remaining. Little changed after that, as Gran Canaria kept full control of the situation and did not find any trouble to cruise to a well-deserved road win.