Unicaja Malaga vs. Germani Brescia

2020-21Regular SeasonRound 4

Unicaja Malaga 86

Germani Brescia 69

October 21, 2020 CET: 20:45

Local time: 20:45 MARTIN CARPENA

Unicaja holds off Brescia's comeback

Unicaja Malaga registered its third consecutive home win in the 7DAYS EuroCup by downing Germani Brescia 86-69 at Martin Carpena on Wednesday. Unicaja improved to 3-1 in Group B while Brescia dropped to 1-3. Dario Brizuela paced the winners with 17 points off the bench. Francis Alonso added 15 and Adam Waczynski had 11 for Unicaja. Kenny Chery led Brescia with 18 points, Drew Crawford added 14 and Dusan Ristic scored 12 for the visitors, who rallied from an 18-point deficit to get a 48-51 lead late in the third quarter. Brizuela and Alonso stepped up in crunch time to make sure Unicaja cruised to an important victory.

.@unicajaCB, @basquemamba gets the steal and goes for the reverse slam #RoadToGreatness pic.twitter.com/WPUhnOrBoQ
— 7DAYS EuroCup (@EuroCup) October 21, 2020

Alonso got Unicaja going with a three-pointer and Alberto Diaz added a driving layup for a 5-0 lead. Ristic scored down low, but Diaz and Deon Thompson each struck from downtown in an 11-0 run that Tim Abromaitis capped with a layup for a 16-2 score. Crawford stepped up with 5 quick points, but Alonso and Yannick Nzosa kept Unicaja in control at 21-7. Crawford and Waczynski traded shots from beyond the arc and Luca Vitali downed a jumper to fix the score at 24-12 after 10 minutes. Brizuela buried a stop-and-pop jumper early in the second quarter and Abromaitis added a three-pointer in a 7-0 run that Nzosa capped with a layup that broke the game open, 31-12. David Moss and Christian Burns tried to ignite Brescia's comeback, but Waczynski and Brizuela kept Unicaja way ahead, 38-20. Brian Sacchetti and Chery each downed a triple in a 0-13 run that Ristic capped with a layup to bring Brescia to 38-33. Carlos Suarez sank a three-pointer, but Chery answered with a jumper to make it 41-35 at halftime.

Chery scored again right after the break and Ristic added a layup to bring Brescia within 41-39. Burns buried one from beyond the arc to complete Brescia's comeback, 41-44, after a 3-24 run. Diaz downed a jumper and Brizuela followed a layup with a three-pointer, but Chery and Crawford kept the guests ahead, 48-51. Ruben Guerrero ignited the crowd with a three-point play and Brizuela added a reverse dunk that prompted a Brescia timeout at 53-51. Sacchetti took over with a layup-plus-foul, but Waczynski and Diaz kept Unicaja in charge, 57-54, after 30 minutes. Unicaja found a go-to guy in Brizuela, who fed Guerrero for an alley-oop slam and added a layup and a triple. He found help from Alonso to restore a double-digit lead, 67-57, with 7 minutes left. Vitali and Burns tried to erase the deficit and Ristic added a jump hook, but Alonso kept Unicaja fully in charge, 72-63. Abromaitis sank a turnaround jumper to seal the outcome as Brescia never recovered.

FINAL. ¡VICTORIA! 86-69

J. 4 @EuroCup
@LeonessaBrescia

#UnicajaLive #RoadToGreatness pic.twitter.com/kEpFOTQYQk
— UnicajaCB (@unicajaCB) October 21, 2020

Pivotal performer

Diaz had a fine all-around game to lead Unicaja to another win. He finished the game with 9 points, 1 rebound, 8 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn for a PIR of 17. He also received a warm ovation from Unicaja fans when he headed to the bench with a minute left.

Game-changing moment

Unicaja trailed 55-54 late in the third quarter, but Brizuela stepped up to make the difference, finding Guerrero for an alley-oop slam, adding a layup and then a three-point shot. Alonso soon helped with a jumper that caused Brescia to call timeout at 67-57. Brescia never recovered.

Stellar stat

Turnovers and two-point shots made the difference in this game. Brescia committed 19 turnovers and Unicaja made just 8. Unicaja also made 22 of 35 shots inside the arc (62.9%) and limited Brescia to 17-of-31 shooting (54.8%).

Did you know?

Unicaja won its seventh consecutive home game against an Italian team; its last loss came against Montepaschi Siena in the 2013-14 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. Unicaja is undefeated at home against Italian teams in EuroCup action with an 89-68 victory against Fiat Torino in the 2018-19 campaign and a 93-74 win over Dolomiti Energia Trento last season.

Next game

Both teams return to 7DAYS EuroCup action next week. Unicaja visits ratiopharm Ulm on Wednesday, October 28. Brescia welcomes Boulougne Metropolitans 92 the same evening.

Dario Brizuela - Unicaja Malaga (photo Unicaja - M. Pozo) - EC20

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Eurocupbasketball.com

Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; NEDOVIC, MILAN; CELIK, HUSEYIN

Attendance: 552

By Quarter	1	2	3	4
Unicaja Malaga	24	17	16	29
Germani Brescia	12	23	19	15

End of Quarter	1	2	3	4
Unicaja Malaga	24	41	57	86
Germani Brescia	12	35	54	69

Unicaja Malaga

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
2	THOMPSON, DEON	11:36	3	0/3	1/2			1	1	1	1	1			1	1	1
6	SANTOS, RAFA	1:04	2	1/1											1		1
8	BRIZUELA, DARIO	24:54	17	5/7	2/7	1/1		1	1	3	1				1	1	15
9	DIAZ, ALBERTO	31:31	9	3/4	1/4			1	1	8	2	1			2	4	17
10	ALONSO, FRANCIS	24:05	15	4/5	2/7	1/1		4	4	1	2	1			3	4	16
21	WACZYNSKI, ADAM	20:35	11		3/5	2/2					2	3			3	2	7
23	ABROMAITIS, TIM	23:53	9	3/5	1/3			2	2	1				1	1		6
32	GUERRERO, RUBEN	21:51	6	2/2		2/3	3	5	8				1		1	2	15
33	NZOSA, YANNICK	13:38	9	3/6		3/3	3	4	7						2	4	15
43	SUAREZ, CARLOS	4:31	3		1/1											1	4
52	GERUN, VOLODYMYR	4:31					1	1	2						2
83	BOUTEILLE, AXEL	17:51	2	1/2	0/3			2	2			2				1	-1
	Team
	Totals	200:00	86	22/35	11/32	9/10	7	21	28	14	8	8	1	1	17	20	96
				62.9%	34.4%	90%

Head coach: CASIMIRO, LUIS

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

Germani Brescia

							Rebounds						Blocks		Fouls
#	Player	Min	Pts	2FG	3FG	FT	O	D	T	As	St	To	Fv	Ag	Cm	Rv	PIR
7	VITALI, LUCA	25:26	4	1/2	0/1	2/2	1	6	7	8					3	1	15
8	PARRILLO, SALVATORE	1:50
11	CHERY, KENNY	28:15	18	2/4	4/8	2/3		4	4		1	4			1	3	14
12	BORTOLANI, GIORDANO	14:45	2	1/3	0/1		1		1		1	2			2		-3
21	RISTIC, DUSAN	11:24	12	6/9	0/1			1	1	1		2	1	1	1	2	9
22	CRAWFORD, DREW	32:28	14	2/5	2/4	4/6	1	7	8	2		1			1	3	18
23	BURNS, CHRISTIAN	22:31	9	2/3	1/3	2/4	1	7	8		1	2			3	4	12
34	MOSS, DAVID	17:16	4	2/2	0/1					3		1			5
41	SACCHETTI, BRIAN	24:19	6	1/2	1/1	1/1	3	1	4			3			2	2	6
45	ANCELLOTTI, ANDREA	21:46		0/1	0/1			1	1			4			2	2	-5
	Team						1		1								1
	Totals	200:00	69	17/31	8/21	11/16	8	27	35	14	3	19	1	1	20	17	67
				54.8%	38.1%	68.8%

Head coach: ESPOSITO, VINCENZO

Head Coaches

CASIMIRO, LUIS

Unicaja Malaga

"It wasn't easy. We needed to play hard to win the game and we did that in the first and fourth quarters. We played good defense, controlled the rebounds and hit the open shots. In the second and third quarters, we took the same open shots, but missed them. I am very happy with the way my team worked. We need to improve every day, in every game. We have to keep working in every practice, play together and have good chemistry in the team. That is the key."

"I believe we played a very good first quarter and a very good last quarter, especially on defense. I think that the team did great in that aspect in those quarters. The key, I believe, is that we forced them to 7 turnovers in the fourth quarter and finished the game with 19. We did well in that respect for the entire game. We didn't do that great in the second quarter, in which they managed to be more comfortable, scoring and getting us out of the rhythm we had. On the other hand, if we had kept playing the way we did in the first quarter, the final difference would have been the same, but they did much better, returned to the game and we struggled for two quarters in which we had to contain them on defense, using that to grow again. That was the key to play well again in the fourth quarter and win it 29-15, doing well on defense and offense."

ESPOSITO, VINCENZO

Germani Brescia

"We did all we could tonight after a slow start in which we were soft, especially on defense. Then we started to play our game despite being with an incomplete roster. We did everything we could. We knew this was going to be a tough game because Unicaja is a great team and has a deep roster. We have to learn from this. We have to play and fight, first on defense and get comfortable on offense. It is a learning process... Congratulations to Unicaja for winning this game."

Players

DIAZ, ALBERTO

Unicaja Malaga

"It is not easy. The result is one thing, but we had to work hard on the court, Brescia fought until the end. We broke the game in the last 4 minutes, but the rest of the game, they pushed us and played 100%. We need this rhythm for winning each game in the EuroCup. We are now on a winning streak, four games in a row, but this is basketball. When you lose two games in a row, it is a bad moment, doubts come to your head, but we have to try to improve this streak."

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