A great chance for the fourth away victory in the Eurocup this season, and the biggest one, failed - the Buducnost Volija basketball players had a triumph in their hands, but after overtime they were defeated by Gran Canaria 79:71.
The showdown in Las Palmas was even from start to finish. The "Blues" had a weak start, losing 12:5, but they turned the game around with an 8:0 run at 17:15 and announced a fight to the last breath.
After the 1st quarter it was 17:17, at halftime 36:36, and the points were well distributed - Cameron Reynolds and Tre Bel-Haynes gave six each, Phil Booth and Aleksandar Lazić five each, Alfa Kaba, Igor Drobnjak and Petar Popović four each, and Marko Jagodić-Kuriža two.
In the third part, the people of Podgorica played better, especially in defense, they constantly led, and in the 27th minute they had a record plus six (48:42).
The home team equalized at 51:51 with John Shurna's three-pointer at the beginning of the decisive period, but Alfa Kaba returned the maximum six points with six points (59:53).
That did not break Jake Laković's team, which reached a new tie in the 37th minute (62:62) with a three-pointer by Andrew Albisi at the sound of the siren.
Šurna responded to Bell-Haines' layup from the counter, and after two unused attacks on both sides, Jagodić-Kuriža made an offensive foul with 18,2 seconds left.
Kaba intercepted a pass to Khalifa Diop, who was alone in the racket, but Bel-Haynes, after running all over the court, missed the floater for the win.
It went into extra time, in which Kaba scored first, but Nicholas Brusino from a throw and AJ Slaughter with a shot from five meters gave the home team the first lead after the 1st half (68:66).
Unfortunately, Šurna brought plus three (71:68) with his third three-pointer with two minutes and 37 seconds left, Jovanović immediately took a time-out, but after him Reynolds missed the chance to fight back.
Granka had two offensive rebounds in the next attack, and Albisi made it 6,75:74 with a goal behind the line 68 from the third chance.
Reynolds with two and Kaba with one throw brought his team back into the game, but Shurna hit another three-pointer with his atypical shot for an unattainable 77:71 with 31 seconds left.
GRAN CANARIA - THE FUTURE LOVES 79:71 (17:17, 19:19, 12:15, 16:13, 15:7)
Las Palmas - "Gran Canaria Arena". Spectators: 3.000. Referees: Rossi (Italy), Van den Broek (Belgium), Trawicki (Poland).
Gran Canaria: Inglis 5 (2-1), BALCEROVSKI 11 (1-1), Kljajić, SLOTER 8, Basas, ALBISI 12, Benite 3, BRUSINO 11 (5-5), Salvo 2 (2-2), ŠURNA 16 , Lopes, Diop 11 (10-5).
Future Likes: REYNOLDS 12 (2-2), BELL-HAYNS 13 (6-6), Šehović, But 5 (2-1), KABA 14 (10-4), Lazić 5 (1-0), Ilić 4, JAGODIĆ-KURIDŽA 5 (2-1), Drobnjak 9 (3-3), POPOVIĆ 4 (2-1), Kamenjaš.
Bonus video:
