Unicaja off to winning start at Fiba Intercontinental Cup with 94-78 win
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Unicaja's Nihad Dedovic scoring a layup in their 94-78 win over Petro de Luanda. He was one of five players who scored double figures.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
SINGAPORE – Spanish outfit Unicaja lived up to their billing as one of the favourites for the Fiba Intercontinental Cup (ICC) when the Basketball Champions League winners defeated Angolan side Petro de Luanda 94-78 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Sept 12.
The result sees them top the three-team Group A, with a win against Lebanon’s Al Riyadi Beirut on Sept 13 enough to seal their place in the final two days later.
Against the ICC’s first sub-Saharan team, Unicaja dominated early proceedings but had a nervy end, with both coaches receiving technical fouls in the closing stages for protesting against officiating calls.
Unicaja coach Ibon Navarro told The Straits Times: “It was an important win, especially how we approached the game in the beginning. In the first 13 to 14 minutes, we were on a very high level.
“Then in the last (quarter), we lost our concentration, and that’s something we have to control and fix for the future. The most important thing right now is to recover and make sure everybody is ready for tomorrow.
“Maybe we’ll change the roster, (and I’ll) recognise and identify the best skills of our opponents to control them.”
Unicaja dominated the first quarter against the Basketball Africa League champions and emerged with a 25-6 lead before extending their advantage to 55-32 at half-time.
Unicaja's coach Ibon Navarro said the win was important but they need to work on their concentration.
After finishing the third period with a 75-52 lead, they were outscored 19-26 in the fourth quarter but held on for the win.
There were several positives for Unicaja, including shooting 48.4 per cent (15 of 31) beyond the arc and having five players scoring double figures.
Centre Dylan Osetkowski, 28, who contributed 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, said: “That’s our identity as a team. In one game, one player can stand out and in the next, another can. So it’ll continue to be a team effort to win this tournament.
“This was a good opportunity to be on the court, come out here and feel the basketball, and have the opportunity to play as a team and be together. Now our goal is to win the whole thing, so we just want to continue playing our basketball.”
Unicaja's Kameron Taylor shooting from beyond the arc against Petro de Luanda. They shot 48.4 per cent from three.
Earlier in Group B, National Basketball Association’s G League United held a 33-27 lead at the break before beating Argentinian side Quimsa 78-65, with Deonte Burton scoring 17 points.
Organisers said over 2,500 fans were at the 12,000-seater Indoor Stadium on Sept 12, with free entry throughout the opening day.
One of them was Indian expatriate Naveen Ahuja, who was in the Kallang area when he chanced upon volunteers giving out free tickets.
While the 33-year-old is not a basketball fan and was unaware that the tournament was going on, he still decided to catch the action.
“They were saying there was a basketball match which sounded interesting. I haven’t really watched a live match before, so I was interested,” he said.
But he believes there should have been more fans and event promotion. He added: “(The crowd’s) not up to the mark for this kind of competition... If you’re making it a big event, there should be more promotion and people should already know (about it).”
Fiba Intercontinental Cup (Sept 13)
5pm: Tasmania JackJumpers (AUS) v Quimsa (ARG)
8pm: Al Riyadi Beirut (LBN) v Unicaja (ESP)
mewatch, Fiba ICC 2024
