Murcia, Jan 31 (EFE) the good attacking performance of Artem Pustovyi and Thad McFadden, with 40 points between them, were key.
With this result, the Murcian team, which has won 14 consecutive victories in the competition at home counting several editions, overcame 85-65 on the Lenovo Tenerife court, while the Basques, who had won their three away games in the tournament , they took a step back after their victorious debut in the top 16 with the 85-75 victory over Turkish Darussäfaka.
The match was started by UCAM CB with a very good defense and that made them lead 8-2 in four minutes, with six of their points coming from the personal line.
Bilbao reacted and with a three-pointer from Adam Smith they got closer (14-12), but Pustovyi, being effective in the rival area, fired again at his team, which closed the first quarter with a seven-point lead (20-13). .
The Ukrainian center, much discussed in Murcia for his performance throughout the season, continued to do his thing and with two baskets further stretched the score in favor of the university students. With 24-13 Jaume Ponsarnau called a timeout and his team sought to react with three pointers. Two from Lude Hakanson and Francis Alonso made it 30-22, but Sito Alonso’s team did not slacken and, with McFadden burning up, they put the direct lead. Four triples in a row by the American guard with a Georgian passport determined that the rest would be reached with a +19 for those from the capital of Segura (48-29).
Attacking from defense and also spurred on by a hyper-active Sadiel Rojas in marking either Hakanson or Smith, UCAM CB played fluently and this was reflected in the Palacio de los Deportes electronics.
A 14-4 run back on court left the ground much more leveled for the granas, who threatened to turn the game into a walk against an opponent without arguments (62-33 before reaching the middle of the third period).
From then on, the exchange of baskets in a more tense match on the local side made the difference equalize and the period ended with a palindromic 74-47.
UCAM CB was being superior in everything against a direct rival in the Endesa League for accessing the qualifying rounds for the title -the Basques are eleventh and the Murcians twelfth, both with a baggage of 8-10- but in this European clash they did not offered much resistance.
Those of Ponsarnau, who in the state championship surpassed that of Sito, beating him 99-81, took advantage of the last quarter to slightly make up their extensive defeat and wipe out part of the disadvantage, which could be important for the pass to the quarterfinals. final, something that the first two classified in each group will achieve. In those 10 minutes the Biscayan team finally took a partial victory with the 16-25 that left the final result at 90-72.
– Datasheet:
90. UCAM Murcia Club Basketball (20+28+26+16): Trice (11), Jelínek (11), Rojas (-), Luther (6) and Diop (10) -starting five-, Bellas (-), Radovic (6), McFadden (17), Pustovyi (23), Sakho (-), Anderson (4) and Andronikashvili (2).
72. Surne Bilbao Basket (13+16+18+25): Hakanson (6), Rabaseda (11), Smith (8), Andersson (8) and Withey (13) -starting five-, Radicevic (3), Álex Reyes (-), Francis Alonso (11), Kyser (8), Sulejmanovic (4) and Ignacio Rosa (-).
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni, from Italy; Andris Aunkrogers, from Latvia; and Carsten Straube, from Germany. They eliminated the local Pustovyi (m.35) for five fouls.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the second day of the second phase in the FIBA Champions League within group L played at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia before some 4,000 spectators.
