2014-15SemifinalsGame 1
Unics Kazan 70
Herbalife Gran Canaria 83
April 01, 2015 CET: 19:15
Local time: 20:15 BASKET HALL KAZAN

Gran Canaria gets historic road win in Kazan

Herbalife Gran Canaria took a major step toward its first-ever Eurocup Finals appearance by downing Unics Kazan 70-83 on the road in Game 1 of the semifinals on Wednesday. Gran Canaria leads the two-game total-points series by 13 points and hosts Game 2 next Wednesday. Gran Canaria became the second team to win 20 games in a Eurocup season, improving its record to 20-1. Unics finished the 2013-14 Eurocup season with a 20-4 record. Brad Newley, Eulis Baez and Walter Tavares led the winners with 12 points apiece. Tavares added 11 rebounds for a double-double - 8 of them at the offensive end. Ian O'Leary had 11 points while Tomas Bellas dished 9 assists for Gran Canaria. Sergey Bykov led Unics with 17 points and 8 assists. Curtis Jerrells added 15 points while James White had 11 for the hosts. Baez scored 5 points in a 0-9 opening run that Tavares capped with a jump hook. Three-pointers by Txemi Urtasun, Kyle Kuric and O'Leary boosted the guests lead to 11-26 after 10 minutes. Bykov and Kostas Kaimakoglou stepped up for Unics early in the second quarter and brought the hosts within 24-31. Baez and Newley revived Gran Canaria and a dunk by Tavares gave his team a 34-43 lead at halftime. Tavares and Bellas ensured the guests kept a safe margin throughout the third quarter and a three-pointer by Kuric restored a 55-64 lead through three quarters. Tavares kept leading Gran Canaria, allowing the guests to seal a truly historic win.

Newley got Gran Canaria going with a fast break dunk and Baez followed a second-chance basket with a three-point play. A put-back jump hook by Tavares saw Unics call timeout down 0-9. Jerrells stepped up with free throws, but Newley erased them with a layup and Bellas made it a double-digit lead, 2-13. Dimitry Sokolov tried to change things with a tip-in that Urtasun bettered with a three-pointer. White and O'Leary exchanged free throws before a layup by Albert Oliver boosted the guests’ lead to 6-20. Jerrells and Kuric struck from downtown and even after White scored down low, a three-pointer by O'Leary gave Gran Canaria an 11-26 advantage after 10 minutes. Levon Kendall sank a five-meter jumper early in the second quarter, but Bykov matched him at the other end. Kaimakoglou took over with a layup-plus-foul, which Kuric erased with a triple. Pavel Antipov and Rolands Freimanis each struck from downtown to get the crowd involved at 22-31. Bykov shined with a driving layup, but Baez did better with a three-pointer and a layup by Bellas gave Gran Canaria a 24-36 margin. O'Leary took over with an alley-oop slam, but Kaimakoglou and Jerrells kept Unics within 28-38. Newley hit one from beyond the arc, but Kaimakoglou and Bykov brought Unics a bit closer, 34-41. A dunk by Tavares fixed the halftime score at 34-43.

Bellas downed a step-back jumper right after the break, but White matched with a six-meter jumper before a layup by Bykov brought Unics within 38-45. Tavares found space for an uncontested slam, but D'Or Fischer answered with a wild dunk in traffic. Newley took over with a three-point play and an alley-oop dunk by Tavares boosted the guests' lead to 41-52. White stepped up with a basket-plus-foul and Freimanis bettered O'Leary's alley-oop layup with a triple. After Urtasun answered from downtown, Jerrells scored in penetration. A layup by Kendall kept Gran Canaria comfortably ahead, 49-59. Kuric hit another triple, but Fischer and Jerrells kept Unics within 55-64 through three quarters. Tavares split free throws early in the fourth quarter and added a three-point play for a 55-68 Gran Canaria advantage. Aftre Bykov and Baez traded baskets, Sokolov split foul shots. A jumper by Kaimakoglou kept Unics within 60-70. Jerrells scored in a one-on-one situation and erased Urtasun's five-meter jumper with a driving layup. Bellas and Kendall sank free throws to seal the outcome of the game, 64-77, with two minutes left. Obviously, both teams kept fighting for points until the final buzzer. Bykov took over with a four-point play but a layup by Baez and a huge dunk by Kendall allowed Gran Canaria to seal one of its biggest-ever wins in style.

Players Gran Canaria - EC14 (photo Unics - Nurislam Ismagilov)
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; SAHIN, TOLGA; JAVOR, DAMIR
Attendance: 3500 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Unics Kazan11232115
Herbalife Gran Canaria26172119
End of Quarter1234
Unics Kazan11345570
Herbalife Gran Canaria26436483
Unics Kazan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 WHITE, JAMES 28:26 11 3/4 0/2 5/5 2 1 3   1 2     2 3 11
10 BYKOV, SERGEY 34:49 17 4/8 2/3 3/3 1 1 2 8   2   1 4 5 20
11 LIKHODEI, VALERII 10:44   0/2     1   1           2   -3
12 PANIN, VADIM 1:45                         1   -1
15 GUBANOV, PETR 5:33   0/2                       1 -1
20 SOKOLOV, DMITRY 6:23 3 1/1   1/2 1 1 2     1     1 1 3
21 KAIMAKOGLOU, KOSTAS 34:27 9 2/6 0/3 5/7 1 5 6 4 3 2   2 1 4 12
22 ANTIPOV, PAVEL 14:48 3   1/2   1 2 3           1   4
24 FREIMANIS, ROLANDS 11:02 8 1/2 2/4 0/2 1 2 3           3 2 5
33 KHABIROV, RUSLAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
40 FISCHER, DOR 22:26 4 1/5   2/2   2 2 1   1     2 1 1
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 29:37 15 4/5 1/4 4/4   2 2 1   2     3 5 14
Team           3 3 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 70 16/35 6/18 20/25 11 19 30 14 4 11 0 3 20 22 70
        45.7% 33.3% 80%
Head coach: PASHUTIN, EVGENY
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Herbalife Gran Canaria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 OLIVER, ALBERT 12:38 2 1/2 0/2     2 2 4         3 1 3
8 NEWLEY, BRAD 30:01 12 4/6 1/5 1/1   2 2     1     2 1 6
10 URTASUN, TXEMI 22:05 8 1/3 2/4     1 1   1 1     4 1 2
11 BELLAS, TOMAS 27:22 9 3/5 0/2 3/4 1 3 4 9 2 4     2 5 18
13 BAEZ, EULIS 22:30 12 3/7 1/2 3/3 2 3 5 2   2     1 2 13
14 KENDALL, LEVON 17:10 8 3/4   2/2 2 4 6 1 1 2     3 1 11
15 PORTUGUES, JOAQUIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PAULI, ORIOL 6:44   0/1             1       1   -1
22 TAVARES, WALTER 20:58 12 5/6   2/3 8 3 11 4     2   2 5 30
24 KURIC, KYLE 21:10 9   3/6     2 2 1 1 1     2 2 9
25 O'LEARY, IAN 19:22 11 3/4 1/3 2/2 1 2 3 3     1   2 2 15
35 SUMMERS, DAJUAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team             1 1     1          
Totals 200:00 83 23/38 8/24 13/15 14 23 37 24 6 12 3 0 22 20 106
        60.5% 33.3% 86.7%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO

Head Coaches

PASHUTIN, EVGENY
Unics Kazan
"I think that the first quarter was decisive in this game and we lost it 11-26. It turned out that such a difference was kept unchanged in the end. In the second quarter we significantly improved our game and started to play defensively better, but could not break through and change the game. We were not always able to catch the fast Gran Canaria players, we did not cope with Tavares, who got 8 offensive rebounds, which means 8 additional attacks. In basketball we often say, that the one to control rebounds has control on the game. Today all my players did their best, but unfortunately not everyone managed to do everything successfully. Kaimakoglou, Bykov and Jerrells did pretty well. Fischer did not have his best game. I confess, the opponent was stronger today, and we will draw conclusions from this game and will start preparations towards the [second] game. "
GARCIA RENESES, AITO
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"I am very happy with this win, especially because of the way we started the game. Our fast, aggressive, loose game allowed us to play a very good first quarter. After that, they imposed their rhythm and it was difficult for us, but that didn't make us lose our focus, because it is not the same to play on the road knowing that you still have to play at home. We are happy with these 40 minutes but we have to play 40 more. We are fortunate to have the example of the previous two-way round, in which Kazan lost at home by 9 points but won by 21 in Krasnodar against a team that had been undefeated in the Eurocup until then. That is a clear warning for us. We cannot even think that the series is over. The series will only be won if we are ahead after 80 minutes."

Players

URTASUN, TXEMI
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"I think we had a good start. We came out with great intensity, playing really well. I think we were really focused for all 40 minutes. We had some ups and downs and they are a really talented team. They went on some runs but we didn't stop playing well, focused, the way we wanted. I am happy with our game. We know we have only done half the job. We still have to play at home and it will be a tough game."