Russian side Ural Great completed their second win of the EuroCup Challenge on Thursday night with a road win over BC Gala from Azerbaijan.
Gala started the game well and led by as many as twelve points early in the first half. Darius Lukminas was leading the way hitting five three-pointers and setting up his teammates for open looks after drawing double-teams.
But the Russian team responded with their own run at the end of the second quarter. Andre Hutson converted a three-point play and Jurica Golemac made two jumpers to cut the deficit to minimum before the halftime.
Ural Great shook off the rust in the second half, by playing more aggressive defense forcing turnovers and getting easy baskets from them. Andre Hutson continued his strong play, pushing the ball to the basket and showing consistent range on his jump shot.
The guests were leading by twelve in the third but Anar Sariyev and Gedrius Kurtinaytis hit consecutive three pointers to cut the lead to six points before the decisive quarter.
The Russian team put the game out of reach in the fourth building a 17-point lead after three pointers from Egor Vyaltsev and Terrel Lyday. Gala completely collapsed in the last quarter unable to execute plays on both ends of the floor. As a result Ural Great celebrated their second win in a row 83-71.
Gala coach Rimas Kurtinaitis was circumspect in defeat.
“We had too many turnovers tonight (19) and the energy level dropped in the second half. Jamel Bradley had an off night and without our leading scorer it was hard to stay in the game against such a strong team as Ural Great," he said.
