NIZHNY NOVGOROD (Russia) - For the second time in five Basketball Champions League seasons, there will be a Turkish club in the Final. Pinar Karsiyaka defeated Casademont Zaragoza 84-79 in the first Semi-Final, booking a trip to the title game, where they will play against either SIG Strasbourg or the defending champions Hereda San Pablo Burgos.

In a high energy game with 1000 fans in the stands, Karsiyaka found a way back from a seven point deficit in the fourth quarter and became the second Turkish team to reach the championship game - Banvit did it in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife back in 2017.

Turning point: Coach Ufuk Sarica's men looked out of it, having let a 14-point lead slip out of their hands and finding themselves in a -7 hole with nine minutes to play. It came down to their hustle, as 22-year-old Onuralp Bitim made a number of crucial plays, scored five points, forced Zaragoza guards into turnovers and led the comeback.

From then on, it was all about who makes more clutch plays. Amath M'Baye and Raymar Morgan took over, dominating one-on-one while Zaragoza looked like they ran out of gas in their third-quarter comeback. Spaniards came back to a one-possession deficit, but fumbled the ball down by 3 with 20 seconds to play.

Stats don't lie: Karsiyaka are not the best three-point shooting team in the world, but a big stage like this one in Nizhny Novgorod inspired them to go 12-of-21 from deep. Way too good for Zaragoza's 4-of-17 from the same distance.

Game hero: Sek Henry did not have a single game with more than three three-pointers in the BCL all season long, but showed up with five shots from deep in the Quarter-Finals. He was even better in the Semi-Finals, detonating seven bombs from afar, setting a new Basketball Champions League record for most three-pointers without a miss. Six of those came in the first half, as Henry scored a game-high 24 points.

Bottom line: Casademont Zaragoza lost back-to-back Semi-Finals, and you've got to feel for Jacob Wiley in particular. The big guy only joined Zaragoza mid-season, but was an instant hit, and his performances during the Final 8 have been on an incredibly high level. Wiley's 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting went to waste for ZGZ against KSK.

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