Banvit Bandirma hands Gran Canaria its first loss

Banvit Bandirma led for the entire game in beating Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 80-70 to bring the two teams into a share of first place in Group H with 2-1 records. The loss was Gran Canaria’s first in 13 games this season. A 13-2 run late in the second quarter opened a 44-21 advantage for the home team. And after Granca closed to within 52-49, Banvit kept a slim margin till a final 10-0 run to ice the game. Can Maxim Mutaf scored 22 points on 5-of-8 shooting from downtown to lead the winners. Keith Simmons scored 7 of his 18 points in the final 10-0 run; EJ Rowland chipped in 14 points and Vladimir Dragicevic bagged 13 in victory. Brad Newley had 18 points to lead Gran Canaria, Kyle Kuric drained 13, Levon Kendall 12 and Ian O’Leary posted 10, while Walter Tavares pulled down 11 boards.

A huge slam made by Rowland capped a 15-5 opening run from Banvit, but O’Leary answered by scoring 6 points in a row – including a pair of dunks – to lead 17-11 after 10 minutes. Simmons and Can Maxim Mutaf from downtown pushed the home team to a double-digit margin, 28-18, that Gran Canaria was able to cut to 31-29 behind Newley and Tomas Bellas from long distance. A 13-2 run sparked by the hosts capped by a put back dunk from Chuck Davis gave them a comfortable 44-31 cushion. Tavares made it 44-34 at halftime.

Kyle Kuric hit from downtown to bring the visitors within 44-39 early in the third quarter, but Banvit answered with 5 points in a row, including a dunk by Dragicevic to re-establish a double digit margin. With a 0-7 run, the visitors got as close as 52-49 when Kendall pulled down an offensive rebound and scored, but still Dragicevic remained difficult to stop for the guests and Banvit extended the cushion to 59-52 at the last break. Mutaf and Kuric exchanged three-pointers to open the last ten minutes. The Turkish shooter drilled his fifth triple for a 69-60 advantage midway through the quarter. Newley kept the visitors alive from three-point range, 70-65, but 10 points in a row for the hosts – 7 of them by Simmons, iced the game at 80-65. Kendall and Newley reduced the difference to 10 points at the end.