Canadians in Europe: March 2nd - 5th

It is starting to get serious in the European basketball scene: the Champions League has entered its second group phase, the EuroCup is nearing the playoffs and there are only a handful of regular season games left in the Euroleague. Time for Canadian players working in the continent had to help their respective teams pick up all-important wins.

FIBA Champions League

An explosive start for Zaragoza saw them take an early lead of 11 points, but they then saw that blow up when Sassari brought that gap down to two at the start of the second quarter. Solid close-range play and sensational three-point shooting – they would finish the game with a total of 17 three-pointers – the Spanish team quickly put that setback behind them and remained in control of the game for its remainder.

With Dylan Ennis finishing on 14 points, behind his team mate Jonathan Barreiro who had 26 off the bench, Zaragoza began the playoffs with the best possible start, topping Group L with the twelve-point victory over Sassari.

It took Ankara some time to untangle themselves from Strasbourg, seven points without reply in the second quarter finally putting them at a double-digit advantage. Strasbourg tried to hit back from the paint, but they were matched and out-done by Ankara in the same spots on the opposite end.

Kyle Wiltjer had 14 points and 8 rebounds, one of five players to finish in double digits for the Turkish club in a commanding performance which ended 83-76 in their favour.

A lone three-pointer was Aaron Doornakemp’s contribution for Canarias Tenerife in their first game of Group J. Their final score of 82-62 over Igokea was not reflective of the game itself: Igokea had an early lead but Tenerife had a rampant response, going thirteen points ahead in the second only for the Bosnian club to make it a single-possession game just before half time.

Tenerife regained the lead after a 14-2 run between third and fourth quarters and outscoring Igokea by twelve in the final period saw them complete the opening victory of the Champions League playoffs.

EuroCup

Conor Morgan had nine points and six rebounds for Joventut against Malaga, who could only be separated by a point at the end of the first half. When play resumed Malaga’s shooting from long range would give them the edge they needed to pull away. Joventut kept it close but let the game get away from them just at the end.

Adam Waczynski and Jamie Fernandez both finished with 22 points for Malaga, who handed the second straight loss to Joventut, 90-77, as they start to fall down the order in Group E. They have just two games left to re-find their form from earlier in the season or it could be all over for them after showing a lot of promise so far.

Euroleague

Dyshawn Pierre started and scored 15 points for Fenerbahce in what would be a historic Euroleague match-up with Olimpia Milano: both teams made over 50% in both two and three-point shooting as well as over 90% from the free-throw line, a statistic achieved only once before.

This high level of offence showed in the game itself, with the teams tough to separate in the first half but Fenerbahce's three-point shooting gave them an eleven-point lead that buoyed them to victory by the final buzzer with the final score 100-92.

Records were not set in their second game against ASVEL but it was certainly close. A single-possession game almost all of the way for the second half, looking it could go either way, but down the stretch Nando De Colo would be the one to inspire Fenerbahce to victory. Pierre contributed 13 points off the bench in the 90-86 win, with Fenerbahce now within playoff contention as the regular season starts to wind down.

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Kevin Pangos led Zenit St Petersburg in scoring and assists, with 19 and 7 respectively, in the first of his team's two games this week. After there was no separating the teams in the first quarter, Alba Berlin started to pull away from their opponents in the second quarter, leading by as many as ten points before Zenit struck back and levelled the scores ahead of the final quarter.

In the decisive period of play, though, the visitors to Russia completely fell apart, held to just four points in the last ten minutes of regulation. St Petersburg showed them no mercy, pouring it in from the low post and beyond the arc to turn the game around and finish in the win column with the final score 87-71 in their favour.

Pangos was once again the top scorer for Zenit the next few days with 14 points and 7 assists against Real Madrid. Far more effective in the paint, the Spanish visitors took a double-digit lead in the first quarter, a gap Zenit was able to get down to four by half-time and then overturn in the third quarter. A single possession stood between the teams in the final period, but ending the game with a 7-2 run, Real Madrid closed out this back-and-forth road game as the winners.

The 75-71 loss for Zenit sees them now teetering on the edge of the playoff zone with only a handful of games to go.