
Supported by its legions of roaring home fans, Gran Canaria 2014 defended its home court against PGE Turow 85-74 to register its first win of the Eurocup regular season. Gran Canaria is now 1-1 in Group G, while Turow fell to 0-2. Jaycee Carroll led the way to victory with 18 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. James Augustine had 15 points and 7 boards while Daniel Kickert matched him in points while adding 5 rebounds of his own. Will McDonald added 11 points and 5 boards for the winners. Turow was paced by Michael Wright, who was unstoppable inside, scoring dunk after dunk for a total of 25 points. Willie Deane seconded him with 16 points to go with 6 assists in a losing effort. Gran Canaria got the big win thanks to a balanced group effort, out-rebounding Turow 42-32 while dishing out 22 assists as team.
Wright scored the opening basket with a dunk for Turow before McDonald struck back with a layup. Michal Chilinsky slammed again for the visitor, but Carroll drilled a three. McDonald dunked, and after a layup by Carroll, Gran Canaria was up 9-6. Moments later Wright tied it with a layup, but McDonald answered with a slam. Wright hit right back with a dunk of his own despite being fouled for a 2-plus-1. Carroll drilled a three, and James Augustine added a jumper to go up 18-12. Justin Gray hit with a jumper, and Adam Wojcik dropped a three to pull Turow back to within 18-17 after 10 minutes. Wojcik and Augustine started the second by trading dunks before Jim Moran nailed a three-pointer for the home team. Pawel Leonczyk made a pair of free throws for the visitors. Josh Fisher and Wysocki each nailed three-pointers for their teams. Moments later, Carroll hit again from downtown. Wright made a 2-plus-1, but Marcus Norris stepped back and struck from beyond the arc. Willie Dean and McDonald both dunked before Wright powered his way to the rim yet again for a slam to end the half 35-32.

Deane stared the second half with a slam, and 2 free throws by Wright put Turow in the lead. Norris punched back with a three-pointer, but Robert Witka matched him from downtown, 38-39. Carroll and Dean traded four consecutive scores inside before Norris hit again from long range. Witka and Wright worked for buckets in close, but McDonald, their center, nailed a three-pointer. Wright stayed aggressive and rattled the rim with yet another dunk to grab the 1-point lead for Turow. Kickert bracketed a three by his teammate Fisher with two field goals to give Gran Canaria a 55-49 advantage. The two Gran Canaria players then hit back-to-back threes to push the lead out to 58-49. Wright dunked again for his 20th point on the night and added the free throw off the foul . Kickert, completely on fire, got another three to fall to send Gran Canaria into the final period up 61-52. Kickert kept rolling with a 2-plus-1 to open the fourth and give the home team a 12-point lead. Dean made a layup, and Witka dropped a three-pointer to pull Turow back into the game. Gray cut the lead to 66-60 with a triple. Wright scored 4 straight, 68-64, but Carroll dropped a three-pointer. Kickert gave Gran Canaria a 76-66 lead on a layup with over 3 minutes to play. Gran Canaria then turned up the defense, and Moran nailed a three to seal the win.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.com