La Laguna Tenerife showed no signs of missing Marcelinho Huertas in Lithuania. In their first game after announcing the Brazilian point guard's departure, Jaka Lakovic's team won convincingly in Šiauliai and closed the first half of their EuroCup debut with six wins in seven games. They did it with balanced scoring: five players in double figures and minutes for all twelve roster players.
A second quarter to take control
The start belonged to Shermadini and Hunter, who finished two alley-oops from Jaime Fernández with dunks for a 4-11 lead. Šiauliai responded and tied it at 11-11, in a first quarter with poor three-point shooting from both teams: both squads missed their opening attempts from deep, and the Canary Islanders started 0 for 6. Two three-pointers from Bruno Fitipaldo gave the visitors some breathing room (18-25), but the Lithuanians answered with a 7-0 run that made it 25-25.
The game broke open in the final stretch of the second quarter. Five straight points from Bamba, a basket from Fernández, and three-pointers from Arturs Kurucs and Tim Abromaitis sent La Laguna Tenerife into halftime with an 11-point lead (27-38).
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Answering every Lithuanian push
In the third quarter, Šiauliai got closer with Romancenko cutting it to 42-48, but La Laguna Tenerife answered every time the home team pressed, entering the fourth quarter with a 13-point advantage. In the final stretch, two and-one plays from Bamba, penetrations from Fernández and Kyle Guy, and the pick-and-roll between Hunter and Shermadini sealed the game.
Defense also played a role: nine steals, four of them from Hunter. Beyond Bamba, Shermadini, and Hunter, Guy (11) and Fitipaldo (10) finished in double figures, sharing 14 team assists with Fernández. For Šiauliai, Henderson Jr. scored 12. The Canary Islands team returns to the Liga Endesa on Saturday in Andorra, in Huertas' farewell, and visits Türk Telekom in Ankara on Tuesday.