ESP – Croatia’s Tomic helps Madrid prevail over Gran Canaria

MADRID (ACB) - Ante Tomic could be playing his way into Croatia's national team if his impressive display for Real Madrid against Gran Canaria 2014 is anything to go by.

The 23-year-old center scored a team-high 19 points as Madrid held on for a 74-73 triumph.

Madrid led by 12 points late in the third quarter but nearly suffered a fatal collapse at the end as the Canary Islands stormed back.

Tomas Bellas hit two free-throws to close the gap to 74-73 and with Madrid trying to move the ball up the floor in the final seconds, the Canary Islanders forced a turnover.

Bellas put up a long three-pointer but was off target.

"We made things hard for ourselves once we had a 12-point cushion," Messina said.

"We didn't have the best shot selection but Gran Canaria also defended fiercely in the zone and it was hard to break in.

"I think our mistake wasn't that we focused on shooting from outside the perimeter too much, but rather that we did so without playing the ball in the zone first."

Madrid took over sole possession of second place with the victory and will now focus on this week's opening game of their Euroleague Quarter-Final tie with Spanish rivals Regal Barcelona.

Barca thrashed Madrid in the Copa del Rey Final and also hold a three-game lead over Messina's team in the ACB standings.

"We will have to prepare ourselves for a game in which rebounding will be very important," Messina said.

"We've already faced Barcelona and we've experienced problems against them."

Barcelona warmed up for the Spanish showdown with a gritty 86-79 victory at title-challengers Caja Laboral.

Barca have a full stock full of international stars and three of them came to the fore in Vitoria.

Ricky Rubio, the Spain national team point guard, had 17 points.

The 19-year-old had maybe his best-ever shooting performance from three-point range, making all five of his attempts.

Juan Carlos Navarro, his Spain backcourt mate, contributed 15 points but was just one of seven from behind the arc.

Slovenia national team star Erazem Lorbek finished with 14 points for Barca.

Other games: Unicaja Malaga 89 Xacobeo Blu:sens 58, Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 63 Cajasol Sevilla 60, Granada 83 Blancorueda de Valladolid 73, Suzuki Manresa 78 DKV Joventut 84, Lagun Aro GBC 76 Power Electronics Valencia 83, Ayuda en Accion Fuenlabrada 86 Asefa Estudiantes 82, CB Murcia 70 Meridiano Alicante 76.



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