Wiley leads Gran Canaria to big road win

Herbalife Gran Canaria had a happy return to the 7DAYS EuroCup by downing Promitheas Patras 75-86 in Group D on Wednesday. Jacob Wiley led the winners with 22 points on 10-of-13 two-point shooting, Andrew Albicy added 17 points, Amedeo Della Valle scored 11 and Stan Okoye 10 for Gran Canaria. Ian Miller paced Promitheas with 27 points, Danny Agbelese paired 16 points with and 12 rebounds and Charis Giannopoulos also scored 16. Promitheas led 61-58 heading into the fourth quarter before Wiley took over with 12 points in crunch time and Albicy made the difference down the stretch.

Michalis Lountzis got Promitheas going with a turnaround jumper and got help from Miller and Dimitris Agravanis to make it 7-2. Albicy answered with a wild four-point play, igniting an 0-8 run that Wiley capped with a jumper. Agbelese and Miller rescued the hosts and Agravanis dunked to restore a 14-13 Promitheas edge. Agbelese kept pushing his team and Miller buried his third and fourth triples, but Della Valle and Okoye kept Gran Canaria within 26-24 after 10 minutes. Balcerowski hit a jump hook in a 0-15 run in which Okoye and Frankie Ferrari each struck from downtown to boost the visitors' lead to 26-36. Promitheas found a go-to guy in Giannopoulos, who had 8 points in a 14-0 run gave his team a 40-36 edge. Ferrari and Wiley tried to change things for Gran Canaria, but Miller and Giannopoulos gave Promitheas a 48-43 lead at halftime.

Okoye hit a couple of jumpers after the break and Wiley dunked for a 50-51 Gran Canaria edge. Miller took over with 5 quick points, but Della Valle kept his team ahead, 55-56. Agbelese and Agravanis each scored down low to make it 61-58 after 30 minutes. John Shurna dunked off a steal, which prompted Promitheas to call timeout at 63-65 with 8 minutes to go. Wiley took over with a jumper, a floater, a layup and an alley-oop dunk. Albicy followed a layup with a three-pointer to break the game open, 70-78, with 3 minutes left. Promitheas kept trying, but the visitors had cruised to a big road win.

Pivotal performer

Wiley scored 12 of his 20 points in the final 8 minutes, making sure Gran Canaria returned home with a good-as-gold road victory. He finished the game with 22 points on 10-of-13 two-point shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 fouls drawn for a game-high performance index rating of 26.

Game-changing moment

Wiley was unstoppable in the fourth quarter, but didn't find any help around as Promitheas kept its chances open at 70-73. Albicy stepped up with a quick basket and added a big three-pointer off an inbounds play, which boosted the lead to 70-78 to give Gran Canaria full control of the game.

Stellar stat

Gran Canaria had twice as many assists as its opponent, dishing 20 to Promitheas's 10. On the other hand, Promitheas committed 17 turnovers and Gran Canaria made just 8. Gran Canaria took much better care of the ball and it paid off down the stretch.

Next game

Promitheas visits Dolomiti Energia Trento on Tuesday, October 6 for its next game. A day later, Herbalife Gran Canaria hosts Nanterre 92.