The Spanish team came out on top against Hapoel although the home side launched a spirited late fightback
Gran Canaria prevailed in quarterfinals despite fourth-quarter lapses
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Dreamland Gran Canaria ground out a thrilling 89-92 quarterfinal win at Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem in the BKT EuroCup Playoffs to earn a semifinal series against Bahcesehir College Istanbul after nearly spilling a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter.
The Spanish side was up 58-70 ahead of the final 10 minutes and then allowed the home team back into the game with a flurry of turnovers, which enabled Hapoel to cut the deficit to just one point, 89-90, with 16 seconds remaining.
Fortunately for Gran Canaria, player of the game Caleb Homesley kept his nerve from the foul line to seal his team’s win as Khadeen Carrington missed with a wild three-pointer from half court at the final buzzer.
Gran Canaria prevailed thanks to 11 offensive boards and 23 assists, cancelling out 15 turnovers and a mere 3 steals, with Hapoel managing 8 steal and shooting an impressive 11 of 21 from deep while Granca sank 12 of 30. However, Hapoel was contained to just 14 of 30 from inside as the Spanish side’s big man Mike Tobey played a key role.
The 30-year old Tobey drew on his wealth of experience acquired in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague with the likes of Valencia Basket, FC Barcelona and Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade to rack up 14 points and 8 rebounds against a physical Hapoel side as Gran Canaria won the battle of the boards 33-21.
Coach Jaka Lakovic was pleased with the outcome, having praised his team’s composure when the chips were down.
“Congratulations to my team for advancing to the semifinals. I thought the game was very physical with a lot of quality, there were lots of players with a lot of talent out there,” Lakovic told the postgame press conference. “We started well and did a good job in the third quarter, then in the fourth quarter we turned the ball over seven times which helped Hapoel’s fightback.
“In the end, we were focused enough to make some important shots, especially the free throws, while were smart enough on the last defense to avoid committing a foul.”
Gran Canaria now faces a formidable task of eliminating Bahcesehir in a best-of-three semifinal series, with the Turkish side enjoying home-court advantage after finishing top of Group A with a 14-4 record in the regular season.
In their two regular-season meetings, the rivals shared the spoils in a pair of rugged contests as Gran Canaria prevailed 66-63 on its home court before Bahcesehir won 73-65 in the reverse fixture.
The upcoming contest promises to be every bit as exciting, with Gran Canaria aiming to contain Bahcesehir big man Marko Simonovic, who poured a game-high 20 points in a comeback 85-81 quarterfinal win over Cedevita Olimpija Ljubljana, when the Turkish side rallied from a 17-point first quarter deficit.
Gran Canaria is again likely to lean on Homesley, who averages 12.5 points per game, as well as Tobey, who totals 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds, with Nico Brussino, Joe Thomasson and Andrew Albicy expected to lead the supporting cast.