ANTALYA (Turkiye) - MoraBanc Andorra put together a solid roster with hopes of reaching the Basketball Champions League Regular Season for the first time. However, they were unlucky to cross paths with Darius McGhee and Telekom Baskets Bonn on Friday, in the Semi-Finals of Tournament 4.
The 25-year-old Bonn point guard was unstoppable on the day, and he had all the answers as Andorra took the lead briefly in the fourth quarter.
McGhee answered with back-to-back long range three-pointers and found help from Phlandrous Fleming Jr down the stretch, for the German team to eventually clinch a 99-91 win, despite the fact they had squandered a 19-point lead just moments earlier.
McGhee finished with 37 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field, including 6-of-14 from beyond the arc. An incredible performance by a rookie in international pro basketball, who joined Bonn from the Indiana Mad Ants.
Fleming chipped in with 17 points, while Thomas Kennedy was his usual efficient self with 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Kyle Kuric had 19 in a losing effort for Andorra.
Telekom Baskets Bonn are now just a step away from reaching the Regular Season. In the final game of the Qualifiers, they will face Banco di Sardegna Sassari, who defeated Uniclub Casino - Juventus 77-73 in the other Tournament 4 Semi-Final on Friday.
Sassari have participated in seven BCL Regular Season campaigns already, more than any other Italian club.
They earned a chance to try and make it eight after they managed to fend off on Friday a late comeback attempt by the Lithuanians, who had trailed by as many as 16 points, 66-50, in the fourth stanza.
The Sardinian team's point guard, Justin Bibbins, led all scorers with 20 points while Eimantas Bendzius contributed 18 points and 6 boards and Michal Sokolowski posted a near double-double of 11 points and 9 rebounds. Arnaldo Toro of Juventus also had a double-double, of 14 points and 14 boards, in defeat.
The winner of Tournament 4 will move to the Regular Season Group E, next to AEK Betsson BC, VEF Riga and Maccabi Ramat-Gan.