15 September, 2020
01 January, 2021
19 Willem Brandwijk (GRON)
22/09/2020
News
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Donar Groningen, Keravnos punch tickets to Qualifiers Group B Final

NICOSIA (Cyprus) - Dutch side Donar Groningen and Cypriot side Keravnos  will square off in the Final of Qualifiers Group B on Thursday with the winner earning the coveted ticket to the Regular Season of the 2020-21 Basketball Champions League.

On Tuesday, Groningen made easy work of their Semi-Final clash with Dnipro, cruising to an 88-53 victory, while in the second Semi-Final group hosts Keravnos prevailed 96-94 over Iraklis after overtime.


Keravnos 96-94 Iraklis (OT)

Keravnos rode an impressive three-point shooting display to outlast Iraklis 96-94 in overtime following a highly entertaining clash and book their ticket to Thursday's Group B Final of the Qualifiers.

The Cypriot side, who went 18 for 35 from downtown on the night, trailed their Greek visitors by 3 points at halftime but came out guns blazing after the break and used a 14-0 run to grab a 51-40 lead halfway through the third quarter.

Iraklis started chipping away at the gap late in the period and big man Vassilis Kavvadas scored with a layup 36 seconds from the end of regulation to tie the scores at 86 and send the game into the extra period as both teams wasted a chance each to score the winner.

Keravnos grabbed a 94-90 advantage but a beautiful Ed Daniel putback dunk off a missed Olivier Hanlan free-throw tied the scores again, 94-all with just 29 seconds left on the clock.

The game seemed to be heading to second overtime but with 4 seconds remaining Ahmaad Rorie got fouled as he was rising for the potential game-winner. The Keravnos guard sunk both his free-throws to make it 96-94 and Iraklis misfired on a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Brandon Rozzell led the way for the Cypriot side with 24 points, 6 assist and 5 rebounds while Andre Williamson added 17 points and Rorie finished with 15 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.

Hanlan finished with 24 points for Iraklis while Mike Moore posted a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Donar Groningen 88-53 Dnipro

The Dutch team raced to a double-digit lead over Dnipro midway through the opening quarter and never looked back, as they cruised to an 88-53 victory over their Ukrainian rivals.

Groningen, who led by as many as 35 points after the halftime break, came up with 17 steals and forced Dnipro to commit an eyewatering 24 turnovers, scoring 36 points off them, mostly on the fast-break.

Davonte Lacy led four Groningen players in double digits with his 19 points and added 4 boards, while veteran Damjan Rudez had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

For Dnipro, Anatoliy Shundel and Maksym Zakurdaiev scored 13 points apiece but were the only two players on the Ukrainian team to shoot at 50 percent from the floor.