Canadians in Europe: March 13th-15th
It was do or die in both men and women's EuroCup tournaments, as well as the FIBA Europe Cup, and the Euroleague regular season entered its home stretch this week. Here is what happens in every game featuring Canadian players.
EuroCup Women
Lyon ASVEL needed a win over Girona in game two to keep their campaign alive, and with Michelle Plouffe putting in a 13-point/10-rebound performance, they got off to a good start, leading by twelve in the first half. They stalled mid-way through the game, though, and Girona took full advantage.
Gabby Williams matched ASVEL's Mariame Badiane on offence, both putting up 16 points, and helping shake Girona off their scoring inertia, the Spanish team took the lead late in the game and held on to it to the end. Girona won the game 61-54 and the tie by thirty, bringing an end to ASVEL's time in the competition.
FIBA Europe Cup
Starting for Pallacanestro Varese, Thomas Scrubb had 16 points as the team dominated Prishtina while on offence on their home court. Dardan Berisha and Divine Myles both reached the twenty-point mark, but nothing they could do could lift the Kosovar team. Shooting 55% from the field and dropping 22 threes, Varese won the game and won the tie, they face Karsiyaka in the next round.
Meanwhile, Dyshawn Pierre watched as his team mate Rashawn Thomas scored 40 points for Dinamo Sassari, which almost single-handedly helped seal the series win over Leiden and setting up a match up against Oostende in the next round.
Euroleague
Kevin Pangos had only one bucket for Barcelona, who led Fenerbahce by seven at the end of the first quarter. Led by an outstanding Kostas Sloukas, who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, Fenerbahce closed the gap to one ten minutes later.
Barcelona then surged, reaching their biggest lead of the game at ten points, but a rampant final quarter from Fenerbahce, where they scored 36, which lifted them to victory, 88-82. Barcelona remain fifth overall despite the loss to the league leaders.
EuroCup
Two quarter-final ties in the EuroCup went to game three. In the first, Kyle Wiltjer had four points as Malaga fought to hold on to their slender lead over Alba Berlin. The visitors to the German capital shot 72% from the field and saw 18 points from Mathias Lessort and 17 from Sasu Salin.
A late eleven-point run and shooting consistently from the three-point line, Alba were able to turn the game around and knocked Malaga out of the competition in dramatic fashion with the 79-75 late comeback win in game three.
At the same time, UNICS Kazan found themselves in a back-and-forth game with compatriots Lokamotiv Kuban Krasnodar. The game went all the way down to the wire, where Errick McCollum and Pierria Henry broke the deadlock from the free-throw line. Melvin Ejim and Kazan to fight another day, they face Valencia in the semi-finals.
