ANTALYA (Turkiye) - MoraBanc Andorra executed the first part of their plan, defeating a former BCL Final Four participant in Windrose Giants Antwerp. The Liga Endesa side prevailed 91-73 on Wednesday, setting up a firecracker of a battle in the Semi-Finals of Tournament 4.
Andorra, a team with a lot of familiar names and fueled by the ambition to reach the Regular Season in the Basketball Champions League for the first time ever, now have an even tougher task in front of them. What is tougher than a former Final Four team? A former champion.
Telekom Baskets Bonn await in the Semis, getting ready for the tough one-two punch of Sekou Doumbouya and Jerrick Harding. Doumbouya needed less than 18 minutes to get 19 points with 6 rebounds against Antwerp, while Harding knocked down 4-of-6 threes to finish with 16 points on the day.
Antwerp were down by double digits early on, but kept fighting until the end. Michael Flowers scored 16 points in a losing effort.
The other Semi-Final matchup of this tournament will feature Banco di Sardegna Sassari and Unibet Casino - Juventus. The Lithuanians had to work for all 40 minutes to take down an up and coming project from Serbia, Spartak Office Shoes.
They went back and forth all game long, with no team able to open up a double digit lead at any point, and a total of 15 lead changes in the game.
Juventus entered the final minute a step ahead, and in a clutch closing seconds, they remained calm from the free throw line to keep Spartak at bay. At 87-84, Spartak had one last chance to tie, but the buzzer sounded before they could get their three-pointer up.
L.J. Thorpe did a bit of everything for Juventus with 23 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Devon Daniels had 25 points off the bench for the Serbs, to no avail.
The Semi-Finals will be played at the Gloria Sports Arena on Friday.