Shurna helped Gran Canaria stay perfect on the road

Nov 18, 2021 by Eurocupbasketball.com Print
Shurna helped Gran Canaria stay perfect on the road

Another road trip, another road win for Gran Canaria, which registered its fourth consecutive triumph by beating Frutti Extra Bursaspor 74-85 to improve to a share of the EuroCup's best record at 4-1.

Three of those victories during the winning streak have come on the road and this one came with a double-digit margin. It also came despite going into the game without its second-best scorer, Nicolas Brussino, and his 13.3 points per game, as well as point guard Andrew Albicy who ranks second in the EuroCup with 7.5 assists per game.

However, the team did not miss a beat.

"We played really well in the second half, dominated the rhythm and had a great three-point percentage," Gran Canaria head coach Profi Fisac said after the game. "In the second half we played well on defense, and on offense, we had a lot of discipline in our play."

Gran Canaria got big contributions from its usual suspects, Dylan Ennis with 16 and A.J. Slaughter with 13 points, but the keys were the performances of John Shurna and Artem Pustovyi, who scored 20 points apiece.

And while Pustovyi dominated inside, making 9 of 11 two-pointers, and also pulled down 7 rebounds, Shurna scored all of his points in the middle two quarters and seemed unstoppable going 4 for 6 on two-pointers, and 3 for 3 from three-point range.

Every time Bursaspor seemed to have gotten a boost in confidence, there was Shurna hitting a triple or a tough jumper. He scored 12 points in the second quarter in helping Gran Canaria maintain a lead between 7 and 13 points.

And when the hosts got within 43-45 early in the third quarter, Shurna stepped up to the plate again. He first made a jumper to make it 45-49, then a triple to extend the lead to 47-50, then drew 3 free throws to make it 49-60. Those sparked a 0-12 run that opened a 20-point lead at the end of the third quarter, and Gran Canaria was on its way to victory.

It was Shurna's return to the lineup after missing Round 4. After going scoreless in the season opener, he is averaging 17.0 points in his last three appearances, all on the road.

On Wednesday night, the 31-year old forward came 1 point shy of his career-high and his shooting carried the team to an impressive road win.