19 September, 2017
06 May, 2018
33 Javier Beiran (ESP)
17/10/2017
Game Report
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Tenerife recover after losing big lead against Ludwigsburg

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LA LAGUNA (Basketball Champions League) - Defending champions Iberostar Tenerife held off MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg with an 82-72 victory at home on Tuesday night.

Despite leading by as many as 24, the home side had to hold off a furious third quarter rally from Ludwigsburg that saw them pull to within seven after back to back three-pointers from Florian Koch and Adam Waleskowski in the final two minutes of the period.


A team effort from Tenerife allowed them to hold their nerve, as five players reached double figures, including Tim Abromaitis who hit some key shots in response to the visitors' rally, on his way to registering 15 points without a miss.

"Most importantly, we're happy to come away with a win," Abromaitis said after the game.

"They're a tough scrappy team and we needed the big lead we got in the first half to hang on. They kept their intensity up the whole game and scared us a little bit but we managed to make a couple of big shots at the end and we're happy to come away with the win."

Captain Nicolas Richotti was vital as he had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, Mateusz Ponitka led the scoring with 16, whilst Fran Vasquez added 12.
  
Waleskowski led Luwdigsburg with 16 points in 22 minutes before fouling out, and Koch finished with 13.

Tenerife were unstoppable in the first half, pulling away in the second quarter as they rode 65% shooting into a 20 point halftime  lead at 48-28.



Tenerife Head Coach Nenad Markovic commented:

"We knew the difficulties that this team give to their opponents, they put pressure for 40 minutes, they're a very, very tough team.

"They have started very well in German league, its a team that doesn't have big stars but share minutes and with the way they are playing it's really difficult to keep focus for 40 minutes.

"We had excellent first half and you see the 3-4 minutes we didn't stay focused, we lose a couple of balls, they come back from 20 points to 7 points. What is important is we got our first win."