2014-15EighthfinalsRound 2
Herbalife Gran Canaria 75
Cedevita Zagreb 72
March 11, 2015 CET: 21:00
Local time: 20:00 GRAN CANARIA ARENA
Walter Tavares - Herbalife Gran Canaria - EC14 (photo Gran Canaria)

Kuric leads Gran Canaria past Cedevita

Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas returned to the Eurocup quarterfinals for the first time since 2011 by downing Cedevita Zagreb 75-72 at home on Wednesday. Gran Canaria swept the two-game series and will face Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir in the quarterfinals. Kyle Kuric led the winners with 20 points. Brad Newley added 15, Ian O'Leary had 13 while Tomas Bellas dished 9 assists for Gran Canaria. Stanko Barac led Cedevita with 13 points. Roko Ukic added 11 and 7 assists while Tomislav Zubcic had 10 points for the guests. Cedevita had a strong start and a layup by Nemanja Gordic gave the guests a 9-15 lead. Gran Canaria found a go-to guy in Kuric, who brought the hosts within 16-19 after 10 minutes and put his team back ahead, 30-28, midway through the second quarter. O'Leary and Walter Tavares made Gran Canaria keep a 40-39 edge at halftime. Barac gave Cedevita a 40-44 edge right after the break but Newley and O'Leary allowed Gran Canaria to get a 61-54 margin late in the third quarter. Free throws by Pilepic gave Cedevita its last lead, 67-68, as Bellas led an 8-0 run which kept Gran Canaria out of trouble in crunch time.

Eulis Baez got Gran Canaria going with a three-pointer and free throws but Ukic stepped up with a triple and a jumper by Ivan Ramljak tied it at 5-5. Newley shined with a driving layup which Marko Arapovic matched with a jump hook. Newley scored again and a three-pointer by Zubcic gave the guests their first lead, 9-10. Marko Tomas also struck from downtown and a backdoor layup by Gordic made Gran Canaria call timeout at 9-15. Kuric hit free throws and bettered Tomas's basket with a three-pointer for a 14-17 score. A second-chance layup by Miro Bilan and a jumper by Kuric fixed the score at 16-19 after 10 minutes. Albert Oliver his a four-meter jumper early in the second quarter and a three-pointer by O'Leary made Cedevita call timeout at 21-19. Bilan scored down low, Newley ignited the crowd with an alleyoop layup but Barac put Cedevita back ahead, 23-25. Kuric hit a technical free throw and a couple of three-pointers to make Gran Canaria regain the lead, 30-28. Bellas fed Newley for a layup which Barac erased with foul shots. O'Leary shined with an alleyoop slam but Ukic scored in penetration and a layup-plus-foul by Barac gave the guests a 34-35 edge. Tavares and O'Leary allowed Gran Canaria to get a 40-39 edge at halftime.

Pilepic hit a three-pointer right after the break and a jumper by Barac gave Cedevita a 40-44 edge. Tavares took over with a wild alleyoop dunk which Ukic improved with a three-point play. Kuric scored again and a three-pointer by Newley tied it at 47-47. Arapovic downed a six-meter jumper but Levon Kendall answered with a layup-plus-foul. Bilan made free throws, O'Leary took over with a slam and a big basket but Mario Delas kept Cedevita within 54-53. Newley and Kendall took over late in the third quarter but a buzzer-beating layup by Gordic kept Cedevita within 61-56 after 30 minutes. Zubcic and O'Leary exchanged baskets early in the fourth quarter. Zubcic kept pacing Cedevita with a four-meter jumper and soon added a corner triple to keep his team within 65-63 with over 6 minutes left. Kuric and Gordic traded baskets and free throws by Pilepic gave the guests a 67-68 edge with 4 minutes left. Bellas hit foul shots and Kuric beat the guests' zone defense with a fallaway jumper. A driving layup by Oliver sealed the series' outcome, 73-68, but both teams kept fighting for a prestigious win. Gran Canaria rounded a great series with yet another home win.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Eurocupbasketball.com
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Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; BISSANG, JOSEPH; VAN DEN BROECK, NICK
Attendance: 4838 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria16242114
Cedevita Zagreb19201716
End of Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria16406175
Cedevita Zagreb19395672
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 17:26 5 2/3 0/2 1/2 1 2 3 3   1     1 1 6
8 NEWLEY, BRAD 29:03 15 5/7 1/4 2/2   1 1     1   1 5 3 7
10 URTASUN, TXEMI 18:12 2   0/1 2/2   3 3 1   3 1   1 2 4
11 BELLAS, TOMAS 27:02 4 1/1 0/1 2/4   1 1 9 2 3     2 3 11
13 BAEZ, EULIS 26:49 5 0/4 1/4 2/2 1 3 4 1 1       2 4 6
14 KENDALL, LEVON 16:41 5 2/3   1/1 1 6 7           3 2 10
21 PAULI, ORIOL 3:15                              
22 TAVARES, WALTER 22:01 6 2/3   2/2 1 4 5     2 1   2 1 8
24 KURIC, KYLE 25:11 20 4/4 3/5 3/3 1 2 3     1 1   3 3 21
25 O'LEARY, IAN 14:20 13 4/5 1/2 2/2 1 1 2 1   2     1 1 12
35 SUMMERS, DAJUAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 75 20/30 6/19 17/20 6 24 30 15 3 13 3 1 20 20 86
        66.7% 31.6% 85%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO
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
Cedevita Zagreb
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 ZUBCIC, TOMISLAV 21:57 10 2/3 2/6   3 1 4     1 1   1 1 9
6 BARAC, STANKO 24:26 13 4/6   5/5 3 1 4 1   1     2 4 17
7 RAMLJAK, IVAN 12:48 2 1/2 0/2     1 1             1 1
8 PILEPIC, FRAN 29:01 8 1/3 1/2 3/3               1 1 5 8
9 BABIC, LUKA 16:15     0/1     1 1 2             2
10 DELAS, ANTE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
15 BILAN, MIRO 15:55 8 3/7   2/2 1 3 4 3   2   1 4 2 6
17 DELAS, MARIO 5:46 4 2/2               1         3
20 GORDIC, NEMANJA 22:32 6 3/5 0/3         2   2   1 3 3  
32 UKIC, ROKO 27:45 11 2/6 2/4 1/1   2 2 7   3     2 1 10
33 TOMAS, MARKO 11:18 6 1/1 1/2 1/2                 4 2 2
35 ARAPOVIC, MARKO 12:17 4 2/3 0/1   1 2 3     1     4 1 1
Team           1 6 7               7
Totals 200:00 72 21/38 6/21 12/13 9 17 26 15 0 11 1 3 21 20 66
        55.3% 28.6% 92.3%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN

Head Coaches

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"First of all, I would like to say that it was difficult to play because when you win by 8 points on the road, normally you think that is easy. I think the team challenged good, and I am satisfied with my players. We defended and attacked really well, and it is not easy to win both games. Moreover, Cedevita have proved that they are a great team."
REPESA, JASMIN
Cedevita Zagreb
"Congratulations to Herbalife Gran Canaria for winning this series. They absolutely deserved it. I wish them good luck in the next round of Eurocup. Generally, Gran Canaria is right now much better than us physically and much better mentally. That was the difference in this series. Because we have a lot of players recovering after a long pause and some players who are not in great shape. We had a lot of ups and downs, we let important advantage slip, and we have to improve and look forward to the rest of the season."

Players

O'LEARY, IAN
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"We are in a great moment, winning against a great team. But we want more. I always try to give my best for the team and I am very happy for the win, but we have another difficult game on Sunday. We want to play our best basketball this time of the season. We are improving every day and with more rhythm on the court."
UKIC, ROKO
Cedevita Zagreb
"We played better than in the first leg, but it was not enough. We lost energy at the end, and with that, we lost a chance to make a final push that could have turn things around. We did not play bad, but 8-point margin is a pretty big margin to catch, and maybe that was subconsciously in our heads."
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