The reigning BKT EuroCup champion showed just why it lifted last season's title with a dominant showing.
Gran Canaria blows away Ulm, 111-82



Dreamland Gran Canaria made it two wins out from two in Group B of the BKT EuroCup after the holder brushed aside ratiopharm Ulm 111-82 in a lop-sided contest on Wednesday. During the convincing win, the Spanish side showed that it means business as it goes about winning back-to-back titles in the competition.
Gran Canaria was indeed in dreamland as all the players on its roster scored and six of them ended up in double digits. The hosts were paced by the versatile Ferran Bassas, who netted 21 points and dished out 4 assists, shooting 6-of-8 from the three-point line. Jovan Kljajic scored 15 points and John Shurna added 14, hitting 4-of-5 three-pointers. Ethan Happ amassed 12 points while Miquel Salvo and AJ Slaughter chipped in 11 apiece. At the other end, LJ Figueroa stood out with 19 points. Dakota Mathias scored 17, Karim Jallow netted 16 and Tomasz Klepeisz added 12.
Game Leaders
Gran Canaria was in cruise control from start to finish, having moved up two gears early in the game to turn a slender 13-9 lead into a whopping 30-16 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The home side poured in the shots from all angles, with Bassas doing the damage with a second-chance triple to put Gran Canaria in a commanding position.
Ulm continued to struggle on offense in the second, while Granca carried on where it left off, turning up the heat with a 16-5 run which upped the advantage to 46-21. The lead soared to 62-36 at halftime, but the visitors refused to roll over and produced a much better third quarter.
Game Videos
They showed tremendous fighting spirit and slashed the deficit to 84-68 ahead of the final 10 minutes, reigniting hopes of staging what would have amounted to a spectacular comeback.
However, Granca showed the resolve of champions and quickly vanquished Ulm’s fightback, with Slaughter at the heart of a 14-2 run which sealed the game as a contest. Ulm kept fighting to keep the score remotely respectable, but ultimately the hosts had too much firepower, having nailed 12 three-pointers in a rock solid all-round performance.