A disappointing Unicaja surrendered its Basketball Champions League (BCL) throne after falling to AEK Athens 65-78 in the semifinals.
Gray and Webb III faced off during the BCL semifinal
BURAK AKBULUT / ANADOLU / Anadolu via AFP
The writing was on the wall given Unicaja’s recent form, and the fears of Málaga fans proved justified. The team currently lacks the quality to compete for any European title. They played catch-up throughout against an AEK Athens side that will now face Rytas in the BCL final. Ibon Navarro’s squad must settle for the consolation match, a third-place showdown with La Laguna Tenerife.
Unicaja Málaga-AEK Athens statistics
Flashscore
This is not the dominant Unicaja of previous years, the team that ruled the BCL with an iron fist and won the last two editions. They will not repeat that feat.
The team has fallen off, new signings have underperformed, and something is amiss in the locker room, breaking the harmony that once existed. The worst part is that these issues are showing on the court more often. AEK capitalized on this to take revenge and eliminate the champions.
The only color visible at the Olympic Stadium in Badalona was the yellow of the Greeks. And it wasn’t that they played a great game. The first quarter was extremely low quality from both sides. Unicaja was worse, managing a paltry nine points in a European semifinal. Things got even poorer for the Málaga side in the second quarter. They scored 12 but conceded 23.
At halftime, a humiliating 21-37 marked the worst offensive performance by any team in the history of this tournament’s Final Four.
After hitting rock bottom, the only option was to stay there or improve. Unicaja did improve. At least they competed and fought back. They even briefly sparked hopes of a comeback, cutting the deficit to eight points in the third quarter (36-44). AEK coach Sakota called a timeout then, and the game returned to its previous rhythm, with the score 43-56 heading into the final period.
The Andalusian team didn’t give up, but they came close. Without outside shooting accuracy (8/32 from three-point range), a win was impossible. That’s how it ended. The largest lead was 18 points, and the final score settled at 65-78. The most negative takeaway: Unicaja remains unable to turn things around.
The MVPs
Perry, with 12 points, was the top scorer for a sad Unicaja. For AEK, Lekavicius stood out with 14 points and a performance rating of 19.