Vital victory for Dreamland Gran Canaria against a MoraBanc Andorra that, thanks to Montero and Harding, made the Gran Canarian team sweat to achieve their 18th victory, in a match in which they went from less to more, in a second half in which The triples allowed them to break the game to end up winning 97-92.
The Arena handed down a ruling on Jean Montero in the pregame of the match with a loud whistle that recriminated the attitude of the wayward former Claretian player on his return to what was briefly his home, in charge of a MoraBanc Andorra. Shortly after, the Granca junior women’s team received a warm ovation from the audience for their title as champions of the Canary Islands after defeating Spar in the grand final.
A sprained ankle left him out of the rotation at the last minute. Ferran Bassasthrowing Jakub Urbaniak’s first team to replace the Catalan point guard, in his first call-up with the first team.
Every ball touched by Montero was accompanied by wind music from the yellow fans, but the Dominican did not wrinkle and together with Harding and Tyson Pérez he took command of the MoraBanc Andorra offense in an even start in which Ethan Happ returned to be the smartest of the yellows in the Andorran area.
Granca could not stop the scoring cadence of an Andorra devoid of pressure, with Harding and Montero unleashed in attack. A jump basket by Rafa Luz ended the patience of Jaka Lakovic, who froze the game as the Andorrans reached an eight-point lead with three minutes left in the first half (18-26).
Miquel Salvó dressed as Curry, scoring two consecutive triples that put the Claretians fully into the fight for the first round, but a hook from Maric at the buzzer closed the first partial victory for the visitors (24-28).
Lack of lucidity in attack
The second set started with an exchange of baskets between Maric and Happ, followed by a tedious phase of play in terms of pace due to the defensive intensity of both teams, which affected the score.
MoraBanc continued to dominate the scoreboard, with Maric in the paint and Montero on the outside acting as unblockers for his team that recovered the lost income halfway through the second act (29-37).
Ben Lammers and AJ Slaughter came to the rescue to bring things closer three minutes before the break, Natxo Lezcano deciding to stop the game at 36-39, putting his lead on the scoreboard in jeopardy.
The Andorran reaction came from the hand of another former Claretian, Stan Okoye, who scored a three-pointer from the corner completely free, while Harding once again shot the yellow ring from mid-distance with astonishing ease that led Lakovic to stop the game at just over a minute and a half until halftime (38-44).
The yellows’ poor attacking decisions were penalized by Andorra, who turned to Harding again to close the score midway through the game with an acrobatic basket that made it 39-47 in a bad first half for the yellows.
Blessed triples
The triples from Shurna and AJ Slaughter allowed Granca to stay in the fight for the final victory, against an Andorra that was seeing how the yellows were gradually undermining their advantage, until a new triple from the corner of the 14 He placed the 59 equal with just over three and a half minutes left in the match.
The Claretians grew from defense, while Shurna, Salvó, AJ Slaughter and Albicy were in charge of recovering the advantage in the electronic that they did not enjoy from the initial basket of the Claretians’ own French point guard. A 3+1 from Harding helped the boys from the Principality to minimize damage heading into the last 10 minutes which were reached with a tight 67-64.
The triples that had not entered the entire first half continued to take center stage at the most necessary moment for Granca who saw how Nico Brussino twice and Andrew Albicy left the team coached by Natxo Lezcano injured as they saw the yellows overcome the barrier psychological score of 10 points reached the halfway point of the last quarter (84-73).
Tyson Pérez’s make-up operation in the final stretch of the match was controlled by the long-distance shots of AJ and Albicy and the presence in the zone of Happ, in a tight finish, but controlled by the Claretians that ended with a 97 -92 in the 18th victory of the Gran Canarian team in the ACB.
Tribute to Carroll
At the end of the game Jaycee Carroll received the love of the Arena and his former teammates through a tribute video in which he received the love of Jim Moran, CJ Wallace, Xavi Rey, Michael Bramos, Pedro Martínez, Tomás Bellas, Javier Beirsen, Spencer Nelson, Josh Fisher and Himar Ojeda, as well as their family, before receiving a t-shirt with their 100 games from the Sports Minister, Aridany Romero. With microphone in hand, the former Claretian player dedicated a few words to the fans and recalled that his daughter Alba was born on the Island 13 years ago, saying goodbye shouting ‘peep, peep’.
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2024-04-14 18:11:25
#ACB #BASKETBALL #Granca #smiles #expense #MoraBanc #Montero
