Monaco reaches Eurocup final
AS Monaco advanced to its first 7DAYS EuroCup Finals ever in dramatic fashion on Friday by beating host Herbalife Gran Canaria 74-76 to sweep their semifinal series 2-0. After Gran Canaria tied 74-74 on 3 free throws by Andrew Albicy with 3.4 seconds left, Monaco inbounded to Rob Gray, who measured off a quick jumper that hit nothing but net to send Monaco to the finals! Friday’s other Game 2 also went down to the wire before UNICS Kazan outlasted visiting Virtus Segafredo 85-81, ending the latter’s 20-win unbeaten streak for the season. Isaiah Canaan scored 19 points for UNICS, which now travels to Bologna for a do-or-die Game 3 next Wednesday.
Herbalife Gran Canaria 0-2 AS Monaco
Rob Gray nailed the game-winning jumper with 0.2 seconds left to send AS Monaco to the 7DAYS EuroCup finals for the first time with a 74-76 victory over Herbalife Gran Canaria for a 2-0 sweep of their best-of-three semifinal series. Monaco squandered a 13-point lead and even watched Gran Canaria come back from an eight-point deficit with 81 seconds to play before Gray’s heroics. Marcos Knight led the way with 17 points, while Dee Bost and Jaleel O’Brien each had 15 points. Damien Inglis chipped in 12 points and 7 rebounds. Gran Canaria was hoping to stay alive and get back to the finals for the first time since 2015, but Stanley Okoye’s 15 points were not enough. Aleksander Balcerowski added 12 points, and Matt Costello scored 11 points with 9 rebounds in the loss.
UNICS Kazan 1-1 Virtus Segafredo Bologna
In one of the most thrilling games in 7DAYS EuroCup Semifinals history, UNICS Kazan stayed in the race to reach the finals by downing Virtus Segafredo Bologna 85-81 at Basket Hall Kazan in Game 2 of their best-of-three semifinals series on Friday. The series is now tied at 1-1 with Virtus set to host Game 3 next Wednesday. UNICS handed Virtus its first loss of the season, stopping the visitors’ 20-game winning streak. Isaiah Canaan led UNICS with 19 points. Jordan Theodore added 15, Okaro White 12, and Jordan Morgan 11. Marco Belinelli led Virtus with 33 points. Milos Teodosic added 11 while Vince Hunter had 10 for the guests. Canaan and Nate Wolters paced UNICS to a 24-16 lead after 10 minutes. Belinelli brought Virtus within 3 points before Canaan and Artem Klimenko boosted in front by 47-37 at halftime. UNICS boosted its margin to 66-48 late in the third quarter but Virtus rallied to tie 81-81 on a late layup by Teodosic. Jamar Smith hit 4 of 4 free throws in crunch time to assure UNICS a season-extending win.