Andorra rips Turk Telekom to stay perfect at home

Morabanc Andorra found no trouble to collect another home win when it defeated Turk Telekom Ankara 98-75 at Poliesportiu D’Andorra on Wednesday night. The hosts used a 15-0 run bridging the first and the second quarters to build a 40-18 margin that the visitors never threatened. Codi Miller-McIntyre paced the winners with 14 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals for a PIR of 25. Clevin Hannah followed with 14 points and 5 assists and Conor Morgan and Nacho Llovet scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Andorra, which improved to 4-2. Turk Telekom, whose record dropped to 3-3, was led by Aaron Harrison, who provided 20 points on 6-of-8 shooting from behind the arc. Anthony Clemmons added 13 points and 6 boards and Octavius Ellis posted 12 points and 6 rebounds in the losing effort.

The hosts displayed a terrific offensive performance in the early going, succeeding in every offense while hitting 3 threes without a miss to get an 18-11 lead midway through the first quarter. The visitors survived thanks to their long-distance shooting, as they only attempted once from two over the first 6 minutes. The scoring slowed down a bit after a Turk Telekom timeout, but Andorra found another offensive spark behind three-pointers from Amine Noua and Miller-McIntyre, a layup by Babatunde Olumuyiwa plus a tap-in buzzer-beater by the former to lead 29-18 after 10 minutes. 

Things didn’t improve for the visitors when the game resumed, as they were held scoreless for a 4-minute span that Andorra exploited to ignite an 11-0 run that raised the difference to 40-18. The guests found some relief from the foul line to reduce it to 44-29, but Hannah stepped up with a long three that revitalized the home team and froze the rally. Mario Nakic followed with a contested baseline layup and Morgan finished a fastbreak to return the 20-point margin to Andorra right before Harrison drilled a three that sent the game to the locker room with a comfortable 51-34 advantage for the hosts. 

A three-pointer by Berk Demir and free throws by Clemmons allowed Turk Telekom to come within 51-39 right after the break. Andorra held on and found some points by its frontcourt players to retain a 57-41 edge, but a three-pointer by Clemmons and a dunk by Ellis forced an urgent timeout by the hosts at 57-46 midway through the third quarter. An inside bucket by Victor Arteaga and free throws by Drew Crawford helped Andorra stay calm, and even though the visitors managed to trim the deficit to 61-51 soon after, Oriol Pauli showed up big to score a layup, assist Hannah for a triple and provide a couple of free throws that allowed his team to enter the last period in front 68-55.

Hannah took the reins going into the last stanza, contributing a three-point play, hitting from behind the arc and finishing a fastbreak to restore a 20-point margin, 76-55, for the hosts. Andorra’s defense stepped up too, as the guests needed almost 4 minutes to score until Harrison ended the drought with a triple. It proved worthless, though, because Morgan took over with 6 points in a row soon after to make it 82-60 and put the game to sleep with still 5 minutes remaining.

It’s raining threes

Morabanc Andorra was unstoppable from long distance from the very beginning, as it drained 5 out of 6 threes in the first quarter and continued rocking in the second by going 3 for 6. That accuracy granted the home team a 20-point margin early in the game that became an unbreakable wall for the visiting squad. The three-point rain continued after the break, as the hosts added 5 more to finish the game with a solid 13-of-23 shooting (56.5%). Turk Telekom was not bad from behind the arc either, collecting 4 triples in the opening quarter and going for 11-of-28 (39.3%) in the end, but it turned out not enough against the accuracy of its opponent, which had six different players scorie from behind the arc. Clevin Hannah and Codi Miller-McIntyre had 3 each, Drew Crawford and Nacho Llovet nailed 2 apiece and Conor Morgan, Mario Nakic and Amine Noua connected once from deep.

Strong scoring helps Andorra remain unbeaten at home 

In addition to a terrific three-point shooting display, the hosts completed a magic scoring night by signing off on a season-high 98 points against their opponent. That milestone was based on a nicely distributed contribution by all Andorra players, as each one who stepped on the court scored. The ones who did it the most were Codi Miller-McIntyre and Clevin Hannah, with 14 points apiece, while Babatunde Olumuyiwa had just 3. Between them, nine more players filled the box score. That balanced contribution helped Andorra improve its home record to 3-0 after it got past Dolomiti Energia Trento, 85-73, in Round 2, and Partizan NIS Belgrade, in Round 4. 

Harrison excels from long range

Turk Telekom’s top scorer, Aaron Harrison, finished with double-figures in points in all games but the opener this season, and against Morabanc Andorra he proved again he is a real threat for any team in the 7DAYS EuroCup. Harrison completed a 20-point performance, showing incredible accuracy from deep. He drilled 6 triples, which is his personal high and tied for the second-best this season, just one shy from Gediminas Orelik’s 7 against Hamburg Towers in Round 4.