IZMIR (Turkey) - UCAM Murcia had no intentions of going to a deciding Game 3 of their Play-In series against Pinar Karsiyaka and instead, got the job done on the road, 96-89, clinching their spot in the Round of 16.

Murcia have scored at least 90 points in two consecutive games, the first time that they have achieved this in the Basketball Champions League.

Turning point: There was little to no separation between the two teams in the first half, as the biggest lead was seven points by Karsiyaka early in the first quarter and they held a three-point lead after the first 20 minutes of action.

A 15-5 run by Karsiyaka to close out the third quarter pushed them out ahead for a 72-63 lead heading into the final quarter of play. Kenan Sipahi led the charge with 10 points in the quarter.

The fourth quarter is when the game shifted in favor of Murcia, thanks to a 33-17 quarter. David Jelinek hit multiple clutch threes down the stretch, one to put Murcia up 86-85 and another putting them up 90-87.

Game heroes: Murcia's balanced scoring featured six players in double figures. Travis Trice led them with a well-rounded game of 17 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds off the bench. He also made 9-of-10 free-throws. Jelinek also came off the bench and finished with 13 points in only 17 minutes, with 11 of his points coming in the fourth quarter, as well as all three of his three-pointers.

Murcia became the third team this season to have three players with 10+ points and 5+ assists (Trice – 17 points, 7 assists; Nemanja Radovic – 13 points, 5 assists; Thaddus McFadden – 10 points, 5 assists). McFadden has also now made a total of 136 shots from behind the arc, joining Vojtech Hruban for third place on the all-time list for made three-pointers in the BCL (Sasu Salin, 168 and David Holston, 141).

Stats don't lie: Murcia assisted on 23 of their 30 total made shots for the game and also shot 25-of-29 from the free-throw line, while Karsiyaka only got to the free-throw line 15 times and made 10 of them.

Bottom line: Murcia swept the series 2-0 and are through to the Round of 16 Group L where they will play alongside fellow Spanish teams Surne Bilbao and Lenovo Tenerife, as well as Darussafaka, who also swept their Play-In series tonight against S.L. Benfica.

Karsiyaka, meanwhile, have been eliminated from the 2022-23 competition and were led in defeat by Errick McCollum who finished with a game-high 21 points off the bench. Angel Delgado also chipped in 16 points and 8 rebounds for the Turkish side.

They said:

"We knew it was going to be a tough game since the beginning. The atmosphere here is great, so we know that the fans are going to be behind them. I think we've been ready and focused on the things we're supposed to do. Even when they scored some easy points or when they took a big advantage in the third quarter, we still thought we can do it because our minds were set the right way, and in the end, maybe we made some lucky shots, but this is our game. These are the shots we take." - David Jelinek, UCAM Murcia

"I'm very happy for the team. We were able to keep the mentality even with this kind of atmosphere and when we're playing good basketball, even when we're losing, we're able to come back, always." - Sito Alonso, Head Coach UCAM Murcia

"It was a good game for us until the last three minutes. Most of the game, we played the right way, but in the last six minutes, we allowed Murcia to score easy and quick points. I think that was the biggest reason why we lost. In the end, it was both ways. We could win, and they made two tough shots." - Kenan Sipahi, Pinar Karsiyaka

"We were good and then everything changed in the last five minutes. They played really good and they made all their shots." - Ufuk Sarica, Head Coach Pinar Karsiyaka