The home team, La Laguna Tenerife, wrapped up the first half of the second phase of the FIBA Champions League with a hard-fought victory over Turkish side Petkimspor, winning 90-83. From the outset, the Tenerife team dominated the game, although they experienced some ups and downs that put the final result in jeopardy.
It was crucial for Txus Vidorreta’s team to remain unbeaten, and they managed to do just that. The team showed great resilience, reacting whenever their opponent drew close and making their superiority clear. The game got off to a great start for Tenerife, with three three-pointers from Aaron Doornekamp and a basket from Joan Sastre, giving them an early 11-1 lead. This advantage, which hovered around 8-10 points, was maintained for the first 20 minutes of the game. The visiting Turks struggled to score, only managing to get points from free throws until they started to find opportunities to shoot and score, preventing the locals from pulling further ahead.
In the first 10 minutes, Tenerife scored five three-pointers – three from Doornekamp, one from Costa, and one from Kramer – while the visitors managed three, with two from Aldridge and one from Williams. The scoring slowed down in the next 10 minutes, but the scoreboard still clearly favored the home team, who faced a rival that, at least in the first half, lacked clear offensive resources. With the score at 55-39 at the start of the second half, the game shifted from the tranquility of the first two quarters to concern in the third, where Petkimspor surged forward, going on a 1-13 run to make it 59-53 and getting back into the game.
During this stretch, the Tenerife team struggled with their attack, and their defense wasn’t as intense as expected. Coach Txus Vidorreta was forced to call a timeout with the score at 59-53 to reorganize his team. The introduction of Kramer proved crucial, as the German player led the attack, and Tenerife managed to reach the end of the third quarter with a nine-point lead, 71-62. The final quarter was a rollercoaster ride, with Tenerife’s lead stretching to 11 points, 79-68, after a triple from Jaime Fernández, before the Turks applied pressure, narrowing the gap to six points, 85-79, thanks to standout performances from Dotson, Echenique, and Aldridge.
Just when it seemed the game was going down to the wire, a three-pointer from Thomas Scrubb, which put the score at 88-79 with 53 seconds left, sealed the deal, ending the agony of the final quarter and securing a 90-83 victory for the home team.
Game Stats
The final score was 90-83 in favor of La Laguna Tenerife, with the team’s points distributed as follows: Huertas (9), Scrubb (15), Sastre (11), Doornekamp (12), Shermadini (7), Guerra (-), Costa (7), Kramer (10), Kostadinov (9), Fernández (8), and Abromaitis (2). On the other side, Petkimspor’s score of 83 was achieved with the following points: Dotson (5), Van Beck (16), Aldridge (17), Williams (18), Echenique (12), Rusell (2), Tyree (11), Selim (2), and Gultekin (-).
Referees
The game was refereed by Gedvilas (LIT), Pesic (SER), and Praksch (HUN). The match was played at the Santiago Martin Sports Pavilion in front of approximately 3,000 fans.
