2018-19Regular SeasonRound 2
Herbalife Gran Canaria 87
FC Barcelona Lassa 86
October 16, 2018 CET: 21:00
Local time: 20:00 GRAN CANARIA ARENA

Hannah's free throws give Gran Canaria its first win

In a thriller that came down to the final shot, Herbalife Gran Canaria recorded its first-ever Turkish Airlines EuroLeague win by edging FC Barcelona Lassa 87-86 at home on Tuesday. Gran Canaria improved to 1-1 in the standings and Barcelona dropped to 0-2. Chris Evans led the winners with 19 points. Clevin Hannah added 14, including the go-ahead free throws down the stretch, while Kim Tillie and D.J. Strawberry each scored 13 for Gran Canaria. Former Gran Canaria star Kyle Kuric led Barcelona with 24 points, Ante Tomic added 18 while Kevin Pangos, also formerly of Gran Canaria, had 11 for the guests.

Kuric hit a couple of early triples, Tomic scored twice in the paint and 7 unanswered points by an inspired Pangos gave Barcelona its first double-digit lead, 9-19. Albert Oliver and Xavi Rabaseda brought Gran Canaria a bit closer, 18-26, at the end of the first quarter. A stop-and-pop triple by Oliver soon made it a one-point game, 25-26, after an 11-0 run. Tomic and Pau Ribas stepped up for Barcelona, giving the guests fresh air at 28-33. Gran Canaria used a 7-0 run, which Evans capped with a three-pointer to take back the lead, 35-33. A layup by Pierre Oriola tied the game at 44-44 at halftime. Three-pointers by Hannah and Eulis Baez gave Gran Canaria a 53-51 edge soon after the break. A 2-10 run that Pangos capped with free throws put Barcelona ahead, 55-61. Kevin Seraphin and Thomas Heurtel allowed the visitors to keep a 64-69 margin after 30 minutes. Tomic and Kuric took over early in the fourth quarter, but a three-point play by Strawberry gave Gran Canaria hope at 75-79. A big dunk by Evans made it 81-82. Tomic and Tillie traded baskets and a layup by Evans gave Gran Canaria an 85-84 edge with over a minute to go. Kuric hit a free throw, Singleton split attempts and Hannah drew a foul with 3.6 seconds left. He made both attempts and Pangos missed a five-meter shot at the buzzer.

Pivotal performer

Not only did he lead his team in scoring, but Evans gave Gran Canaria the spark it needed in the fourth quarter. He had 10 of his 19 points in the final seven minutes, allowing Gran Canaria to keep its chances alive until the final seconds.

Game-changing moment

With Barcelona up 77-82, an 8-2 run in which Evans had 6 points allowed Gran Canaria to take the lead, 85-84. It was the hosts' first lead since early in the third quarter. Gran Canaria, pushed by a great crowd, never stopped believing and got its reward down the stretch.

Stellar stat

Kim Tillie had 13 points; that was the most he has scored in the EuroLeague since March 2017. Tillie has scored 22 points in two games. He totaled 38 in 10 games with Olympiacos Piraeus in an injury-plagued 2017-18 season.

Did you notice?

It took Gran Canaria's Luke Fischer just one minute and 51 seconds to foul out in this game. That is an all-time record - before him, Vyacheslav Shushakov of Ural Great had fouled out in three minutes and 26 seconds against Efes Pilsen on April 4, 2002.

Next game:

Both teams play against on Thursday; Gran Canaria visits Panathinaikos OPAP Athens at 20:00 CET. An hour later, Barcelona welcomes FC Bayern Munich.

Clevin Hannah - Herbalife Gran Canaria - EB18
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: JAVOR, DAMIR; PANTHER, ANNE; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 5285
By Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria18262023
FC Barcelona Lassa26182517
End of Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria18446487
FC Barcelona Lassa26446986
Herbalife Gran Canaria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 OLIVER, ALBERT 11:48 6 0/2 1/1 3/3   1 1 1   2       3 7
5 HANNAH, CLEVIN 26:22 14 1/4 2/3 6/6 1 2 3 2 3 1     2 5 20
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 BALVIN, ONDREJ 20:27 2 1/1   0/2 1 1 2     1     4 4 1
13 BAEZ, EULIS 25:19 5 0/2 1/4 2/3   3 3 4 2 1   1 4 1 3
14 PASECNIKS, ANZEJS 12:27 6 2/2 0/1 2/4   1 1       1   3 3 5
21 PAULI, ORIOL 14:18 2 1/2 0/2     3 3 1 1 1     2   1
22 RABASEDA, XAVIER 14:57 7 1/1 1/1 2/2   2 2 4   2     2 1 10
23 EVANS, CHRISTOPHER 25:03 19 6/8 1/3 4/4 2 2 4 5 1 1     2 2 24
24 STRAWBERRY, DJ 27:32 13 5/8   3/4   2 2 3 3 2     1 5 19
40 FISCHER, LUKE 1:51                   1     5   -6
41 TILLIE, KIM 19:56 13 3/4 2/3 1/2   2 2 1   3     3 1 8
Team           2 2 4               4
Totals 200:00 87 20/34 8/18 23/30 6 21 27 21 10 15 1 1 28 25 96
        58.8% 44.4% 76.7%
Head coach: MALDONADO, SALVA
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SERAPHIN, KEVIN 10:09 8 4/7     2   2 1 1 2   1 4 1 3
3 PANGOS, KEVIN 22:06 11 2/5 1/4 4/4   1 1 5 1 1     2 3 12
5 RIBAS, PAU 11:07 3   1/2     1 1   1 1     2 1 2
6 SINGLETON, CHRIS 25:56 7 0/5 2/7 1/2 2   2   1 2 1   4 3 -3
9 BLAZIC, JAKA 3:49                           1 1
10 SMITS, ROLANDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 21:09 8 1/5 1/1 3/6 1 2 3 4   2     1 5 10
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM 0:12                              
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 16:01 5 2/2 0/1 1/2   2 2   1       4 1 3
24 KURIC, KYLE 29:35 24 4/4 4/6 4/4 1 3 4 1 1 3     2 2 25
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 32:23 2 1/1       3 3 3 2       3 2 9
44 TOMIC, ANTE 27:33 18 7/12   4/4 1 4 5 1   2     4 7 20
Team           2 3 5               5
Totals 200:00 86 21/41 9/21 17/22 9 19 28 15 8 13 1 1 26 26 87
        51.2% 42.9% 77.3%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV

Head Coaches

MALDONADO, SALVA
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"We have to be very happy with the victory, for my players and the club, for our fans, for everyone. We didn't have the control of the game in the first quarter on defense. We played bad defense and played better in the second quarter, moving the ball better and controlling the rebounds. We played with intensity in the seconds half and understood that we had to play physical and with aggressiveness. We are very happy for this win and for all the people. Of course, wins give you oxygen; we always fight to win even when there is a long, difficult road ahead of us. Wins give you confidence. You know that in these kind of games, if you play bad, you always lose and if you want to win, you have to play well for the best part of it, and that is difficult at the beginning of the season. In that sense, we are happy, but cannot celebrate for more then one or two hours before moving on to the next game. We already have our first EuroLeague win as a club. We came here to compete and had fun during the game, and winning makes everything better. That will also help people come see us and support us. I like the way we played today. We had problems in the first quarter, but improved little by little, playing a very good second quarter. We were down by 8 at some point, but fought back with good defense. The team never lost faith."
PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona Lassa
"First of all, congratulations to Gran Canaria for the victory. I have the feeling that all the time, we had ways to finish the game with a victory, to win the game, but we didn't know how. Even on defense, we didn't have a very good day. We had a chance to win the game and after that, we have to analyze our defense. Gran Canaria always believed that they could make something special in this game and in the end, I think they deserved this victory. I had the feeling, all game long, that we would win it. In the EuroLeague and the Spanish League, if you play on the road, it is never easy to win, but we had a lot of chances and didn't use them. We have to take better decisions, not just on defense but also on offense. We played against a very athletic, very intense team, especially in the second half. They played with great intensity, took risks and played with heart and confidence. We didn't answer, especially on defense. We cannot expect to win by 20 points or 10 points if we play bad defense. When they wanted to go to the baskets, they did it, drawing fouls and finding extra passes. On offense, we just reacted - we allowed 30 transition points and that is too much - 30 fast break and transition points. Gran Canaria took 30 free throws because we didn't play good defense. That is how I saw the game."

Players

EVANS, CHRISTOPHER
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"It was a big win for the team. The first win in the EuroLeague in team history. I'm proud of everybody and happy to be part of it. I just tried to play with more energy, to be more physical and aggressive. I felt that I can do that, especially when I guard the point guard."
HEURTEL, THOMAS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"We lost the game down the stretch. They hit shots and we made mistakes and turnovers. They had great support from the crowd, which gave them confidence, and we lost the game. I am disappointed. That is all I can say. We tried to do our best and lost the game. It is our second game and we have another important game at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday and we will try to win it. It is an important game not to go down to 0-3. We will try to do our best to win it."