Gran Canaria easies past Brindisi into the first place

Previously qualified Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas cruised to a comfortable 71-88 road win over Enel Basket Brindisi. Gran Canaria improved to 6-2, and jumped into the sole possession of the first place in Group B with a 6-2 record, in the process eliminating 1-7 Brindisi from Last 32 contention. Sasu Salin netted 21 points on 5-for-8 three point shooting. Alen Omic amassed 17 points plus 11 rebounds, Eulis Baez collected 14 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, while Kevin Pangod chipped in with 10 points in victory. Alex Harris had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals for Brindisi. Djordje Gagic scored 12, and Nemanja Milosevic 10 points for the hosts.

Salin and Pangos each scored a pair of baskets, and with contributions from Brad Newley, Baez and Omic, Gran Canaria opened 6-16 lead. Gagic, David Cournooh and Milosevic kept the visitors from pulling away even more, but a triple from Xavi Rabaseda helped make it 12-25 after 10 minutes. Baskets from Omic and Sitapha Savane opened 14-30, before Harris and Matteo De Gennaro hit back-to-back from long range for Brindisi, 22-33. But Salin’s three triples and a fastbreak basket from Newley helped made it 28-45, before Adrian Banks and Domenico Marzaioli made the score 33-46 at halftime.

Baez hit from downtown for Gran Canaria to start the third, but Gagic, Banks and a three-point play from Harris got Brindisi going. Cournooh briefly cut it to 42-51, but Omic scored twice inside before Salin joined in on the fun from the outside, 44-62. Savane sparked another 0-6 run that made it 46-68 with under 3 minutes left to play in the third. Harris hit for three in the third and scored a fastbreak basket early in the fourth, helping Brindisi cut it to 57-68. However, what followed was another run by Gran Canaria, sparked by Baez, continued by Rabaseda and Salin, and eventually capped by a three-pointer from Pangos, 59-88. After a 2-20 run from Gran Canaria, the hosts scored the final 13 points of the game, to cut the final deficit to 16 points.