THESSALONIKI (Greece) - Bilbao Basket secured the FIBA Europe Cup title despite losing 84-82 on the night to PAOK mateco in the second leg of the Finals. They managed to secure a 154-149 victory on aggregate.
With the game firmly in the balance overall, a pair of free throws from Melwin Pantzar gave Bilbao a slender lead on aggregate with 1:29 to go. Harold Frey then nailed a triple with a minute left to give the Spanish side an advantage that was too much to overcome.
Frey and Pantzar both had 17 points to lead Bilbao. Frank Bartley led PAOK with 17 points.
Turning point
Bilbao began to pull away with two minutes played in the second period. A three-pointer from Tomasz Gelo gave the Spanish side a 33-25 lead on the night and a 15-point lead overall. A PAOK timeout looked to stop the bleeding, but it only got worse for them.
An aggressive drive and score from Pantzar with 1:41 remaining in the second stretched the lead to 45-34. The home team's offense almost exclusively relied on three-point shooting - an area they struggled in the first half, going just 3-for-14, whereas Bilbao was a sublime 7-for-12.
PAOK, which trailed by as many as 11 points, fought back in the third, when a thunderous Cedric Henderson Jr. dunk gave them a 55-54 lead. The roof from the PAOK Sports Arena came unglued with 3:16 remaining when Dimitrios Katsivelis gave the hosts a 77-67 lead and by three on aggregate.
But Bilbao answered back, and PAOK could not respond when they needed to most.
Game hero
Norway international Frey had a solid second leg, scoring 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from three-point land in the first half, ending with 17 overall, along with 3 assists. Pantzar was also spectacular as he matched Frey's total with 17, shooting 50 percent from the field and connecting on six free-throws off seven attempts.
Stats don't lie
Bilbao was composed in the first half and shot the ball extremely well, with Frey, in particular, deadly from range, going 3-for-4. As a team, Bilbao shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half and, despite their struggles in the third and fourth quarters, went 10-for-24 from deep and kept their nerve, defensively.
Bottom line
In the end, Bilbao were the more composed of the two teams over the two legs. They shot the ball better on the night, wanted it more, and became the first Spanish side to lift the FIBA Europe Cup.
PAOK has nothing to be ashamed of. With a raucous, sellout home crowd behind them that arrived more than two hours before tip-off, the Greek side hit back at a pivotal moment of the contest. However, they simply couldn't execute down the stretch.
FIBA