Third time's a charm for Shurna, Albicy, Stevic

It is not often that three players reach a European competition semifinal together with different teams. John Shurna, Andrew Albicy and Oliver Stevic just did that, and now they've helped Gran Canaria reach the 7DAYS EuroCup Final.

Shurna, Albicy and Stevic first made it to the EuroCup Semifinals with MoraBanc Andorra in 2019. ALBA Berlin stood in Andorra's way to the final, sweeping the best-of-three playoff series. It took a 102-97 home win in the German capital and finished the job in Andorra, 81-87, despite 20 points and 6 assists from Albicy.

All three players ended up together playing for Gran Canaria and returning to the EuroCup Semifinals in the 2020-21 season. Gran Canaria did not have the home-court advantage in its playoffs series against AS Monaco, which took Game 1 at home, 82-77, and grabbed a win at Gran Canaria Arena, 74-76, to make it to the Finals and eventually win the title, downing UNICS Kazan.

This time, Gran Canaria had the home-court advantage and these three players knew it was a great opportunity to erase bad memories. Shurna led the team in the eighthfinals and the quarterfinals. He finished the semifinal game with 5 points, 2 rebounds and a PIR of 4.

"I have been fortunate to reach the EuroCup Semifinals twice, along with Andrew Albicy and Oliver Stevic: with Andorra in 2018, we lost against ALBA Berlin; and with Gran Canaria in 2021, we lost against Monaco," Shurna said in his EuroCup blog earlier this week. "We have to stay focused on the game ahead because it is going to be a really tough one. I am sure our fans will give us a big boost."

Stevic barely stepped on the court for 3 minutes, but he had time to draw a shooting foul and make both free-throw attempts. Albicy had a stellar performance, finishing the game with 17 points on 6-of-6 free throw shooting from 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 19. He buried a critical three-pointer and added a pair of free throws for a 79-70 Gran Canaria lead with 2:28 left. Somehow, Joventut returned to the game but Albicy was able to celebrate in the end.

"It was a tough game, but we stuck together. We had a game plan and did it correctly. We were a little bit scared at the end of the game but did our job," Albicy said, pointing out that his semifinals curse was broken. "I am very happy because it is my third semifinal and finally I go to the final. Finally!"

Albicy, Shurna and Stevic are now set to play the EuroCup final against Turk Telekom Ankara. Their experience will be very valuable and all three players have been around the competition for a long time. Shurna needs just 3 points to become the 23rd player to reach 1,000 in the competition. He ranks 17th in three-point shots made (151), but only three players above him have a better percentage (43.8% 3FG). Albicy ranks second all-time in assists (515) and fifth in steals (141). Stevic is fifth in rebounds (503).