Gran Canaria hits from long range, rallies to beat Banvit

Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas got back to the winning ways, hitting 13 triples and rallying late to beat Banvit Bandirma 91-80 and grab sole possession of the first place in Group H. Gran Canaria holds 3-1 record, and a tie-break advantage over 2-2 Banvit, and needs one win to secure a place in the eighthfinals. Banvit held the lead, never bigger than 8 points, for majority of the first three quarters before opening fourth period with four three-pointers and taking the lead for good. A triple from Eulis Baez in the dying seconds gave Gran Canaria an 11-point win, overcoming a 10-point Banvit victory last week. Albert Oliver netted 21 points on 5 of 8 from three-point range. Baez and Kyle Kuric both scored 18, while Levon Kendall had 13 points in victory. Earl Rowland had 21 for the visitors, Chuck Davis scored 17, Vladimir Veremeenko 14, while Vladimir Dragicevic added 10 in defeat.

Rowland scored 8 of Banvit’s opening 10 points for 7-12 lead, but Kuric strung together 8 points, including back-to-back threes, to put the hosts in front. Kuric scored 13 in the first 8 minutes of the contest, but Veremeenko and Davis with a triple fueled a 0-10 run, capped by a three-pointer from Can Maxim Mutaf on the opening possession of the second for 24-29. Canaria regained the lead through Oliver and Kendall, and DaJuan Summers buried a three-pointer for 37-35. However, Berkay Candan answered right back from downtown, and Banvit used more baskets from Rowland, Veremeenko and Davis to take 45-51 halftime lead.

Dragicevic, Rowland, and Keith Simmons with a put-back kept Banvit in front, 49-57, but Oliver and Baez hit back-to-back threes to keep Canaria close. Safak Edge naile one from downtown for Banvit and 55-62, and the visitors entered the fourth quarter with 59-64 advantage. However, Oliver opened the final quarter with back-to-back-to-back threes, and Thomas Bellas hit one of his for 71-67. A triple from Simmons got Banvit within 71-70, but Kuric and Baez fueled a 7-0 run for the hosts to pull away. After Dragicevic cut it to 78-74, Bellas hit another three, and Oliver secured victory with his fourth three-pointer of the quarter with 35 seconds to go. But battle was not over, free throws from Bellas made it a 10-point game, and after Davis made a pair of free throws for Banvit, Baez hit a three-pointer that gave Gran Canaria tiebreak advantage.