Clevin Hannah scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half in lifting MoraBanc Andorra to a 74-64 win over Buducnost VOLI Podgorica in their eighthfinals clash on Tuesday night.
Hannah lifts Andorra over Buducnost, 74-64, and into quarters
Fourth-seeded Andorra will play either on the road against a fellow Spanish League side Gran Canaria or at home against Slask Wroclaw in the quarterfinals next week. Guided by new head coach Oscar Quintana, Andorra trailed for the majority of the first half before using a 10-0 run late in the third quarter to go in front. D.J. Seeley got Buducnost back in front 60-61 in the fourth, but Hannah hit 3 triples during a game-sealing 10-0 run. Hannah shot 6-for-10 from long range on the night and Codi Miller-McIntyre collected 12 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in the victory. Seeley netted 25 points on 5-for-5 three-point shooting for Buducnost and Petar Popovic and Marko Jagodic Kuridza scored 11 apiece in a loss.
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Seeley put Buducnost on the scoreboard with a corner triple, but Oriol Pauli scored 4 points for the hosts before Hannah hit a wide-open corner shot on the other end to make it 7-5. Buducnost went in front behind Jagodic-Kuridza, who made a pair of threes. Zoran Nikolic scored in traffic to help the visitors open a 9-13 lead. Miller-McIntyre knocked one down from way out - his first shot of the game, but Vladimir Micov scored inside and Jagodic-Kuridza again from the outside to give Buducnost a 12-20 lead. But Pauli and David Jelinek drove to the basket and Jelinek hit a long triple to help the hosts go back in front after an 11-2 run. Buducnost made foul shots in the final minute to lead 23-26 after the first quarter.
Kendrick Perry opened the second quarter with a step-back triple -the 5th for Buducnost on 8 attempts. But Victor Arteaga had a jumper and Pauli a layup before more close-range baskets from Arteaga and Miller-McIntyre tied it at 31-31. The defenses picked up the intensity and started making more stops as the scoring slowed down. Donatas Tarolis and Zoran Nikolic gave Buducnost a slim lead before Mario Nakic and Miller-McIntyre tied it up, only for Popovic to nail a jumper with his toes on the three-point line. Seeley set up Zoran Nikolic for an easy layup to make it 35-39 at halftime.
Seeley and Drew Crawford traded triples early in the third quarter. A three-pointer from Hannah tied it at 42-42. Seeley nailed a baseline jumper, and after Miller-McIntyre finished an acrobatic layup in a crowd, Seeley's step-back three gave Buducnost another lead, 44-47. Andorra used consecutive offensive rebounds to score 5 points on one trip down the floor and a triple from Hannah gave the hosts their first lead since the first quarter. A monster dunk from Babatunde Olumuyiwa and a three-point play from Hannah made it 54-47. Seeley snapped a 10-0 run, but Olumuyiwa helped extend the margin to 9 points before Seeley made it 58-51 after 30 minutes.
Seeley opened the fourth with a corner three-pointer and, after Popovic drove for a basket, Seeley scored 5 more points, including a tough triple for Buducnost to regain the lead, 60-61. But Hannah answered right back with his fourth three and then knocked down his fifth with exactly 4:00 to go, making it 67-61. No team scored for more than 3 minutes and into the final minute before Hannah nailed his sixth three with 57 seconds to go, opening a 70-61 margin. Popovic snapped Buducnost's drought of almost 6 minutes without a single point, but it was too little too late as Andorra wrapped up the win.