Andorra ends skid, wins at Mornar

MoraBanc Andorra snapped its five-game losing streak by knocking off Mornar Bar 71-74 with a road victory that opened up things in Group H. Andorra dominated the glass and ended up winning the game on a three-pointer with 38 seconds left by Clevin Hannah, who poured in 16 points in pushing his team to a 1-1 record. Artsiom Parakhouski added 12 points, Jeremy Senglin scored 11 and Tyson Perez and Oriol Pauli both grabbed 10 rebounds, helping Andorra take the rebounding battle 44-23. Mornar could not get its offense going and only Jacob Pullen scored in double figures with 22 points as the Montenegro team dropped to 1-1.

Pullen’s free throws opened the game for the hosts with Malick Dime answering at the other end. Mornar’s shooters were hot early with Pullen, Derek Needham and Nemanja Vranjes hitting 3 straight triples for an 11-4 lead. Hannah and Senglin hit from deep for Andorra to pull within 2 points, but Mornar held the guests scoreless for the final 4 minutes of the quarter and led 18-12 after 10 minutes. Taylor Smith got Mornar on the board to start the second quarter to go up 20-12. Andorra’s scoreless stretch lasted 6:25 minutes spanning the quarters until Perez’s tip-in. Two Isaiah Whitehead triples pushed the margin to 28-18. Then Andorra dumped the ball to Parakhouski for 6 straight points and the visitors trimmed the gap to 28-24. After more than 2 minutes without a point, Kenny Gabriel hit two free throws for Mornar, but Andorra used its prowess on the offensive glass and Senglin knocked down a three-pointer and 2 free throws to make it 35-34. Needham made 2 foul shots and Mornar led 37-34 at the break.

After Pullen opened the second half scoring, Hannah came up with two scores to get Andorra within 39-38. Pullen answered with a pair of triples to push the lead to 45-38. Andorra would not go away thanks to 8 straight points off the bench from Tomasz Gielo. Senglin drained a three-pointer late in the shot-clock for Andorra’s first lead of the game, 57-59, which was the score after 30 minutes. Nemanja Gordic had missed his only shot entering the fourth quarter but scored 4 points to put Mornar back ahead 61-59. Perez’s dunk gave Andorra the lead, 61-63, only to see Gordic follow with a three-point play and an assist on Gabriel’s three-pointer as Mornar opened a 69-65 advantage. Hannah’s free throws trimmed the deficit to 2 points and then he drained a three-pointer with 38 seconds left for a 71-72 Andorra lead. Pullen and Gordic both missed at the other end and Perez added free throws to put the visitors up 71-74 with 11 ticks remaining. Pullen missed a final three-pointer attempt to tie the game and Andorra headed home victorious.

Happy end to historic trip

This was the first time ever that Andorra traveled to Montenegro or faced a team from the country. In addition to snapping the five-game losing streak, Andorra came into the contest with just one win in its last eight road games.

Pivotal performer

MoraBanc Andorra brought in Artsiom Parakhouski following the regular season to help on the glass and the Belarus international did that in his second game with the team. After collecting 2 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks in his first game against UNICS Kazan, the center tallied 12 points and 7 rebounds against Mornar.

Telling numbers

Rebounding was the main difference-maker - especially on the offensive glass for Andorra. It outrebounded Mornar 44-23 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds. And Andorra turned those into 22 second-chance points compared to 0 for Mornar. Andorra also converted 19 of 20 free throws.

Next games

Mornar will next take on UNICS Kazan with a home game on Wednesday, January 27. Andorra will play another road game as it travels to play Herbalife Gran Canaria on that day, too.