Gran Canaria rallies to improve to 4-0

Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas rallied behind its defense in the second half to down the visiting Artland Dragons Quakenbrueck 74-63 on Wednesday night. Victory improved Gran Canaria to 4-0 in the first place of Group B standings, while the Dragons dropped to 1-3 record in the fifth place. Artland hit 5 of its first 6 three-point attempts to open 16-28 lead, and held 33-40 at halftime. But after the break, the hosts took control of their defensive glass, and used their transition game for easy points. An 11-2 run mid way through the fourth quarter opened 66-57 lead, and the hosts closed it out for their fourth win in as many games. Kyle Kuric paced Gran Canaria with 16 points, Brad Newly netted 12, while DaJuan Summers pulled down 11 rebounds along with 8 points in victory. Antonio Graves had 11 for the Dragons, while Lawrence Hill and Andreas Seiferth had 10 apiece in the losing effort.

Kuric and Brandon Thomas opened the game trading triples, before Anthony King scored 6 points for the Dragons and 5-9 lead. Kuric made couple more buckets for Gran Canaria, but the visitors forced turnovers, while Bastian Doreth, Hill and Chad Toppert each hit a triple to end the first quarter 16-25, and Toppert opened the second with another three for 16-28. Gran Canaria answered with a 10-2 run with Eulis Baez fueling it, but Graves and Hill hit back-to-back from downtown for 26-36. The hosts answered with 7 consecutive points, as Summers had a put-back, and Newley a triple, but Dragons finished the half with Seiferth and Thomas scoring from close range for 33-40.

The hosts came out more aggressive on defense after the break, not allowing a single point for 4 minutes. Ian O’Leary had a big fastbreak dunk to get the crowd excited, but the visitors used a timeout to regain control, and Hill’s three-pointer made it 37-45. However, Baez finished a fastbreak with another dunk, Kuric sank a three-pointer and a jumper, before baskets from close range by Baez and Summers made it 50-48. The visitors kept it close, keeping the score at 55-55 early in the fourth, but Gran Canaria allowed only one field goal in more than 6 minutes to start the final quarter. Meanwhile, Summers controlled the boards, and Baez hit a triple, before baskets from Txemi Urtasun opened 66-57 lead. Dragons never came closer than 6 points the rest of the way, as Newley grabbed couple offensive rebounds to help close the game out.