AEK looked Unicaja Málaga in the eye for about 32 minutes, but in the end they ran out of power and solutions (they didn’t have Madsen and Frazier available) and were beaten in the opening by Spain (88-66). Round of 16 of the Basketball Champions League.

Kendrick Perry with 22 points (4/7 2-pointers, 3/5 3-pointers, 5/7 shots), 6 assists and David Kravis with another 22 points (8/9 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 3/3 shots), 5 rebounds were the two main protagonists of the Spanish team. Newcomer Yankumba Sima, signed to fill the gap for the injured Augusto Lima, was also very good, scoring 13 points along with 5 rebounds in 14’29” of attendance.

On the Union side, Akil Mitchell hit a double-double with 18 points, 13 rebounds, followed by Isaiah Miles with 14 points, 5 rebounds, who of course got kicked out with 5 fouls in the 35th minute.

The rating

1. Galatasaray 2 (1-0)
2. Malaga 2 (1-0)
3. AEK 1 (0-1)
4. Limoges 1 (0-1)

The race

A near-perfect first quarter came from Malaga, who had 12 assists for 12 accurate shots (8/12 two-pointers, 4/8 three-pointers) and just one penalty (29-20, 10′). On the other hand, Isaiah Miles was the one holding AEK offensively and scoring 9 of his team’s 20 points.

In the second period, Union increased their performance primarily defensively and managed to narrow the gap to 5 points (44-39) before the break, with Miles having 13 points and Akil Mitchell heading for a double-double with 10 points and 8 rebounds away.

Just before the middle of the third period, Kendrick Perry, who had 12 points and 5 assists by then, was charged for his 4th personal foul and had to go to the bench. This worked in AEK’s favour, who saw Mitchell hit 18 points to lead after 26’30’ (51-52). However, the home side responded with a partial 8-2 in the next 3’30’ and advanced to the final by a period of 5 points (59-54).

With a streak of 10 unanswered points, Ybon Navarro’s team made up the 59-58 to 69-58, 5’39” before the final. Not even half a minute later, Elias Kanzouris saw Isaiah Miles punished with a 5th foul and ejected. Somewhere there was all hope of a win for the Union lost, which completely collapsed and was eventually defeated by 20 points.

THE REFEREES: Mazzoni, Krejic, Yilmaz

THE DECADES: 29-20, 44-39, 59-54, 88-66

MALAGA (Navarro): Kalinoski 4, Sima 13 (6/6 2-pointers, 1/5 shots, 5 rebounds), Osetkowski, Perry 22 (4/7 2-pointers, 3/5 3-pointers, 5/7 shots, 6 assists)Barreiro 3 (1), Brithuela 6 (1), Carter 5, Diath, Ejim 4 (1/1 threes, 9 rebounds), Kravis 22 (8/9 2-pointers, 1/1 3-pointers, 3/3 shots, 5 rebounds)Thomas (6 rebounds), Jedovic 9 (1/2 3 points, 4 assists, 3 fouls)

AEK (Kantzouris): Flionis 7 (1/3 trebles, 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Yankovic 6 (5 rebounds), Miles 14 (2/3 trebles, 5 rebounds, 3 errors), Williams 10 (2/ 6 trebles), Mitchell 18 (8/14 doubles, 0/1 trebles, 2/3 shots, 13 rebounds, 2 steals, 4 errors), Koniaris, Xanthopoulos (3 assists), McGriff 6, Gondikas 1, Papadakis, Strelnieks 4, Petropoulos

Malaga team statistics: 24/45 2-pointers, 8/20 3-pointers, 16/26 shots, 38 rebounds (29 defensive – 9 offensive), 22 assists, 8 steals, 9 fouls, 5 blocks

Team stats from AEK: 19/37 2-pointers, 5/21 3-pointers, 13/15 shots, 34 rebounds (28 defensive – 6 offensive), 14 assists, 7 steals, 17 errors, 1 block

The next games of the two teams: On round 2 of the round of 16, Malaga will play Limoges in France (31/01, 21:30), while AEK travel to Turkey to face Galatasaray of Pistiolis (31/01, 19:00).