Gran Canaria demolishes Bursaspor from long range

Herbalife Gran Canaria bounced back from a Round 3 defeat to claim a 76-96 win against Frutti Extra Bursasport to improve its record to 3-1 in Group D. The visitors used an amazing offensive performance in the first quarter, in which they hit 7 three-pointers in just 9 attempts, to build an 18-33 margin that was never jeopardized. Bursaspor lost its third home game in a row and remains last in the group. John Shurna led the winners with 18 points and 8 boards, followed by Tomas Dimsa, who added 16. Javier Beiran, Matt Costello and Stanley Okoye also scored in double-figures by contributing 11, 11 and 10 points respectively. Veteran Oguz Savas posted 14 points and 6 rebounds, Omercan Ilyasoglu added 13 plus 9 assists, while Kenny Kadji, Xavier Munford and Metin Terin had 12, 10 and 10 points apiece in defeat.

Shurna was unstoppable in the early going as he tallied 10 points in a row - including a couple of threes - to help Gran Canaria build a double-digit lead, 2-12, in just 3 minutes. Andrew Albicy nailed another triple to extend it to 2-15 right after a Bursaspor timeout, but Kenny Kadji took over for the hosts and scored 8 consecutive points to keep the visitors within reach, 10-17. Okoye and Dimsa combined later from downtown to spark a rain of threes for the Yellows, which got two more bombs from Franco Ferrari and Beka Burjanadze to finish the first quarter clearly in charge, 18-33. Bursaspor managed to slow down Gran Canaria’s shooters by switching to a zone defense when the second quarter began, but only Ilyasoglu contributed on offense. Munford brought the hosts within 25-35 from behind the arc, although the visitors didn’t panic. Back-to-back threes from Costello and Beiran ignited Gran Canaria’s offense again and then Dimsa emerged to run the show. The Lithuanian guard had a fastbreak dunk, a triple and a buzzer-beater three-point play to boost his team to a 33-53 halftime lead.

Munford and Ilyasoglu tried to reanimate the hosts from long range after the break, but Shurna and Dimsa responded quickly to not only maintain the distance, but to extend it to 41-65 after 24 minutes. Ender Arslan, Ilyasoglu and Savas tried to come to the rescue then and even though they provided the offense, Bursaspor's defense proved too vulnerable. Free throws by Ferrari and Jacob Wiley made it 54-76 and despite Savas and Arslan contributing in a 6-0 run, the Yellows remained comfortably in front, 60-76, entering the fourth quarter. The offenses slowed down a bit then as only Maxim Mutaf and Costello scored on each side. Savas came up big in the zone to reduce the gap to 64-79, but a triple by Okoye was followed by a monster off-the-steal fastbreak dunk by Wiley that sparked a 2-11 run to make it to 66-90 and ruin all hopes for the home team.

It’s raining threes!

Gran Canaria displayed incredible accuracy from behind the arc, especially in the first quarter. The visitors scored 7-of-9, good enough for an 18-33 edge after 10 minutes. Even though Bursaspor tried to use zone defense to slow it down, Gran Canaria ended up collecting 16 three-pointers, its third-highest mark in the 7DAYS Eurocup.

Key performer

John Shurna finished as the game’s top scorer with 18 points, but most of them were provided in a very short period over the first and third quarters. He scored 10 in a row in a 2-12 opening run and added 6 more in the first 5 minutes after halftime to give Gran Canaria a game-high 24-point advantage (46-70).

Not in my house?

Bursaspor has lost all its home games played so far. Dolomiti Energia Trento stole the first one 86-93 in Round 1. Promitheas Patras did the same in Round 3, 84-93. And, on this night, Gran Canaria punished the hosts’ defense with 94 points.

Next game

Frutti Extra Bursaspor will hit the road to look for its first EuroCup victory in France when it hosts Nanterre 92 on Tuesday, October 27. Herbalife Gran Canaria will play at home against unbeaten Dolomiti Energia Trento the day after.