The ‘pío-pío’ suffer to beat Türk Telekom Ankara in the final (71-67)
MADRID, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Gran Canaria has conquered the Eurocup 2022/23 this Wednesday, thanks to a victory by a suffered 71-67 in the final against Türk Telekom Ankara, and has thus achieved the first international title of its record, with the added prize of qualifying for the next edition of the Euroleague.
In the heat of the Gran Canaria Arena, to overflowing for this final date of the tournament, the ‘pío-pío’ came out very plugged in to please the stands. Two consecutive triples, by Nico Brussino and AJ Slaughter, quickly opened the gap. However, Tony Taylor and Axel Bouteille did the same to tighten the score again (9-8).
Even Tyrique Jones put the Turkish team up with a basket (9-10) midway through the first quarter, in a mirage of what would come next. The ‘Granca’ responded through the mediation of Slaughter and no longer released the lead in the email of the pavilion. Until the final honk, Jaka Lakovic’s men temporized almost perfectly.
They had their ups and downs, obviously, in line with facing one of the best teams in this competition and the current leader of the Turkish League, ahead of greats like Fenerbahçe, Pinar Karsiyaka and Anadolu Efes; but the Gran Canarias signed up for the second quarter with an accumulated partial of 21-10, which was already on track for success.
The 20th minute had ended with a strange layup on the board by Andrew Albicy, in a counterattack after stealing the ball, which showed the skill of the locals even in remanguillé actions. Despite everything, Türk Telekom did not give up on returning from the locker room, entrusting Jones and Bouteille to try to come back.
From +20 favorable to the Claretian club (53-33) it went to 61-55. For the ‘Granca’ the foreign pitches no longer entered, there was no longer fluidity in the ‘paint’ and the vertigo of approaching the summit of the Eurocup began to take its toll. Two baskets by Jerian Grant brought the Ankara team closer (64-62), but he missed an additional free kick.
What’s more, the visiting team captured that rebound and also erred in an attack that could once again equalize. The nerves were more than visible, the ‘Granca’ did not take advantage of his next offensive and then Grant, doing a reverse, crashed a shot into the ring. He then replied John Shurna with a triple that tempered spirits.
LAST THREE MINUTES OF TENSION
The game got muddy at that moment, three minutes from the conclusion and with suspicions in each play, including two referee reviews with the table. One of those controversial actions was an attacking foul caused by Albicy outside the semicircle. Not surprisingly, the French point guard became the main protagonist in the decisive moments.
Although he missed two free throws that seemed like the verdict, he made a steal at midfield and made it 71-64, due to an illegal block by Jones, with just eight seconds left. A desperate triple by Bouteille made the score at the Gran Canaria Arena look 71-67, which was ultimately insufficient for Türk Telekom.
In this way, and with a better management of the final seconds despite Albicy missing another two free throws, the ‘Granca’ buttoned up the title in front of his audience. With this, the ‘pío-pío’ will play the Euroleague in the 2023/24 academic year; It will be the second time that the club from Gran Canaria plays said tournament, after its debut in the 2018/19 campaign.
DATASHEET:
–RESULT: GRAN CANARIA, 71 – TÜRK TELEKOM ANKARA, 67 (50-33, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
GRAN CANARIA: Albicy (13), Slaughter (16), Brussino (11), Shurna () and Balcerowski (5) –starting five–; Inglis (6), Bassas (-), Benite (2), Salvo (-), Diop (-) and Stevic (-).
TÜRK TELEKOM ANKARA: Taylor (4), Grant (16), Yilmaz (-), Bouteille (17) and Jones (17) –quinteto inicial–; Yagmur (3), Sestina (7), Erden (3) and Eric (-).
— PARTIALS: 29-23, 21-10, 11-22 and 10-12.
–REFEREES: Pukl, Peerandi and Peer. Taylor was eliminated for personal fouls at Türk Telekom Ankara.
–PAVILION: Gran Canaria Arena, 9,869 spectators.