Keravnos suprised not only Bakken Bears, but the whole BasketballCL
In the second leg of Basketball Champions League qualifiers, we saw some interesting results. But the most unexpected result was in Denmark were Bakken Bears lost the spot for the next round in favour of Keravnos who`ve made a hell of a match after losing the first leg, 95-86.
Everything started in a normal way, Bakken winning the first quarter 28-18, adding ten more points in their favour in the qualification battle. But after that, the comeback began. The second quarter was won by Keravnos by only 4 points and nothing announced what will be going to happen the second part of the game. In the second half, Bakken Bears were simply smashed, on defense and offense and Keravnos managed to get the tickets for the next round after winning the half 55-24. It was a very good half for the Cyprus team and nobody expected to them to qualify, because Bakken looked like a stronger team, with more experience on this level.
What made the difference in this game between the 2 teams? Let’s see some real numbers who will explain the unbelievable turn around of the whole series:
- The field goal percentages: Bakken finished with 39.4% (28/71) while Keravnos had much better stats 53.4% (39/73).
- Rebounds battle – Keravnos had 12 more rebounds than their opponents, 45-33, managing to grab many defensive rebounds because of many missed shots from Bakken,
- Turnover points – Despite they had one more turnover than Bakken, Keravnos managed to score 23 points from Bakken`s mistakes.
- Points in the paint – Keravnos scored 12 more points in the paint, choosing their shots wisely and focusing on an area not very strong for Bakken.
The main scorers for Bakken were Darko Jukic (12 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists) and Michel Diouf with 13 points. For Keravnos the main contributors were Jake O`Brien (22 points and 8 rebounds) and Josh Hagins (17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals).
Photo: championsleague.basketball
Bogdan Vasile Tirc
