Game Report: Kataja Basket battle back against Joventut and advance
JOENSUU (Basketball Champions League) - Kataja Basket claimed one of Finnish basketball's most famous results in European competition on Wednesday by coming from behind to draw 71-71 in the second leg of their Qualification Round 2 tie with Divina Seguros Joventut.
Because Greg Gibson's team won the first leg by four points in Badalona on Sunday, it has advanced to a Qualification Round 3 tie with Telekom Baskets Bonn with an aggregate victory. The opening leg against Telekom Baskets will be in Joensuu, Finland, on Friday evening with the return game in Germany on Monday.
Huge congrats to @KatajaBasket on a historic win! Fantastic to be a basketball fan in Finland these days!
— Ville Tuominen (@CoachTuominen) September 27, 2017
Hats off to KatajaBasket and Greg Gibson. Another milestone in Finnish basketball.
— Mikko Malin (@MalinMikko) September 27, 2017
Thank you for a VERY tough & honest fight, @Penya1930! Our journey continues, it´s @TelekomBaskets next... #DejaVu #BasketballCL
— Kataja Basket (@KatajaBasket) September 27, 2017
Wednesday's game had been scheduled for Tuesday but poor weather conditions prevented the Joventut team's aircraft from landing in Joensuu.
Once the game did get underway, the Spanish outfit scored the last four points of the opening quarter to lead 16-12, which knotted the tie on aggregate.
They twice opened up an eight-point lead in the second quarter, only for Kataja Basket to claw the deficit back and trail 35-30 at half-time. The hosts then moved into the ascendancy in the third quarter, outscoring Joventut 23-16 for a 53-51 advantage and a six-point lead on aggregate.
In the fourth quarter, the momentum swung back to Joventut. Young Sweden international Simon Birgander made a layup to trigger a 9-0 run for the visitors and put them ahead, 64-58.
Joventut's Sweden international Birgander had a game-high 15 points
When Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MKD) guard Nenad Dimitrijevic hit his second 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, Joventut led 69-61 with just over three minutes remaining.
A pair of free-throws by Daniel Bejarano trimmed the Joventut advantage to 71-66 and then Damier Pitts struck with a 3-pointer in the last minute to close the gap to two on the night and put Kataja Basket ahead by two on aggregate.
The Finnish team added a pair of free-throws to leave the second leg level and give the hosts victory in the tie.
Alex Marzette led Kataja Basket with 14 points while Wesley Saunders had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with his 6 points.
Good luck for the future, @KatajaBasket and @TelekomBaskets 👍🏀
— Divina Seg. Joventut (@Penya1930) September 27, 2017
Birgander led all scorers with 15 points.
