REGGIO EMILIA (Italy) - They were there in 2023, playing at home in Malaga. They were there in 2024, playing for the first time on a glass floor in Belgrade. They will be there in 2025 - either in Paris or Athens.
Nobody had real doubts entering the 2024-25 Basketball Champions League campaign, but what could have been expected is now reality. Once again, Unicaja will contend at the Final Four.
Enjoying a blowout home win and then securing the spot with the 82-72 road victory in Italy, the reigning champions have extended the season to May by sweeping Pallacanestro Reggiana in the Quarter-Finals.
Turning point
With Kenneth Faried putting in Michele Vitali's attempt heading to the basket in the final minutes of the third quarter, Reggiana were able to find the first lead of the game since the beginning of the second.
Unicaja had previously reached a 12-point lead, but as time progressed, the hosts reduced the gap more and more, until they could regain the advantage.
The beginning of the fourth quarter, therefore, became the moment of "now or never" for the reigning champions, who were struggling to make an impact.
After a few mistakes on both ends of the floor, Tyson Perez denied Jaylen Barford's drive to the basket. Immediately afterwards, he took flight for a thunderous alley-oop served by Tyson Carter.
What definitely woke Unicaja up, however, was Kendrick Perry's back-to-back sequence of deep three-pointers, giving them a long awaited three-possession lead.
Even when Reggiana tried to comeback with big shots down the stretch, the reigning champs always found another man to step up - Dylan Osetkowski, Kameron Taylor, Tyson Carter and Perry all made tough clutch buckets to keep Reggio at bay.
Game hero
With very few exceptions, it's always difficult to name a standout performance from one single player during Unicaja's victories. Tuesday night wasn't different at all.
However, if there's one specific player who carried the team when mostly needed, that's the Certified in Person, #55, and 2024 Basketball Champions League Final Four MVP.
Kendrick Perry might be silent for the vast majority of the time, and then all of a sudden turn clutch like it happened in Reggio Emilia. Unicaja's leader finished with 10 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds.
Stats don't lie
Among other factors, the experience gap between the two teams made things clear in this best-of-three series - and it perfectly makes sense, as Reggiana never reached such a stage in the competition before.
Having experience in your tank can also help in knowing what it takes to stay focused. Forcing the hosts to 19 turnovers with 12 steals is the proof of Unicaja's mental strength in one of the most important games of the season.
As usual, Unicaja provided scoring options from both starters and non-starters. Overall, Ibon Navarro's team had 54 of their total 82 points scored by bench players.
Bottom line
Is there a way to stop Unicaja from winning the Basketball Champions League title in consecutive seasons?
Well, facing the hosts of the Final Four - either AEK Betsson BC or Nanterre 92 - in the Semi-Finals might be difficult for the defending champs, but they will feel like they could do what only Hereda San Pablo Burgos managed to pull off in BCL history, going back-to-back in 2020 and 2021.
On the other side, these Quarter-Finals were also the perfect occasion of seeing how united and core-balanced Dimitris Priftis' players have been since the beginning of the season. They got over unprecedented challenges, overcame obstacles, and went out with immense pride.
Returning to action after missing Game 1 in Malaga, Kenneth Faried gave it all for the red-and-white side, finishing with a losing effort of 16 points and 7 rebounds. Jamar Smith added 14 points, Cassius Winston and Jaylen Barford had 12 apiece.
They said
"Tough game, a game where we couldn't find our shot, but we found ourselves. When you play Unicaja you expect defense and stops. Getting back to ourselves, which is our defense, was good tonight. [Tyson Perez] is super important for us, with him we get way more offensive rebounds, we have energy running the floor, he's super super important for us." - Kameron Taylor, Unicaja
"We forced a team as organized as Reggiana to have 19 turnovers on their court, it's amazing. I'm super proud, with these numbers we had on offense, we would have lost this game, but the team found a way to stay solid. We waited for our moment. I wanted to congratulate them on such an amazing season, you understand why they're so strong and play with this energy and heart." - Ibon Navarro, Unicaja head coach
"First of all, I want to thank the fans, thank the organization and everybody in the staff, all my teammates, coaches. You know we put together, I feel like a good year this year in Europe. I'm happy for my team for that and proud, but you know everybody is a little disappointed, but we played against the defending champs and they made championship plays towards the end of the game. They stayed poised and just found a way to win, so you know, hats off to them too, but I'm proud of our guys. Everybody in that locker room is dead tired right now, we played as hard as we could." - Jamar Smith, Pallacanestro Reggiana