Murcia, Mar 12 (EFE).- The UCAM Murcia Club Baloncesto, which had four consecutive defeats in the Endesa League and only one victory, against bottom club Carplus Fuenlabrada by 72-88, in the last seven days, ended its losing streak with a quality victory against Unicaja de Málaga, recently proclaimed champion of the Copa del Rey and which they dominated almost at all times with good defense and outside success.
With this result, those from the capital of Segura rise to twelfth place and present a baggage of nine games won and 14 lost, but they are still three victories from the places that entitle them to play the qualifying rounds for the title, while those from the Costa del Sol, who continue to be fifth, are left with 14 wins and now eight losses.
After an even start, with alternatives and draws at 2 and 5, Thad McFadden made an appearance and, with three triples out of three attempted, led UCAM CB to lead 23-14 already within the last two minutes and with Travis Trice joining the scoring party of those of Sito Alonso.
Ibon Navarro, after conceding a 7-0 run from Malaga, stopped the match. With this maneuver at least he stopped the progression of the home team, who closed the fourth with a +7 (26-19).
In the second quarter, with Trice doing his thing and being in tune with the triples -he hit three of the first four he shot-, the university team continued to expand their advantage (31-21).
With their two most farsighted players remaining in attack resting on the bench, the university students maintained their defensive level but it was much more difficult for them to find a hoop and Unicaja took advantage of that to narrow the figures (32-28).
However, the response from UCAM CB and in particular from James Anderson, with two three-pointers in a row, was extraordinary and the consequence of this was that the home team had a new maximum advantage with 42-30 in the 19th minute. Halftime the score was 44-33 and the 10 points from Kendrick Perry and the nine from Darío Brizuela were behind the 26 from the scoring duo of the granas, with 13 from Trice and another many from McFadden after two quarters.
In the resumption the staging was once again better for UCAM CB (49-35). With Artem Pustovyi doing damage in the Malaga zone, Sito Alonso’s men resisted the push of a Unicaja who pressed in defense and quickened their pace in attack.
Yankuba Sima and Jonathan Barreiro appeared for the Andalusians to reach eight points (59-51). However, a 2+1 by McFadden and a later triple by David Jelínek on the counterattack made it 65-51 already heading towards the end of the third quarter.
The final period started with a 67-56 score that was obviously inconclusive and a 3-9 run, which included two three-pointers by Alberto Díaz, in just two minutes confirmed it.
Sito was forced to call a timeout earlier than he would have liked. Back on the court, Trice scored another house-mark triple, but an unsportsmanlike foul called on Ilimane Diop and a technical foul on the local bench led to the difference being reduced again and adding more intensity to the clash.
In this scenario, UCAM CB chose their next shots well, but so did Unicaja. It was a hot moment and there McFadden is a number 1. The fifth triple of the American with a Georgian passport brought those from the Segura capital much closer to victory (80-69) with four minutes still to play.
Ibon Navarro called his players to his side and they applied themselves. A 0-7 again predicted a tight finish and then it was Sito who stopped it with 2.42 ahead. With 84-80 already in the last minute, Alberto Díaz had two shots out of three released and missed them, which put the victory for UCAM CB on a platter.
Match tab:
85. UCAM Murcia Club Basketball (26+18+23+18): Bellas (-), McFadden (24), Anderson (8), Radovic (11) and Pustovyi (11) -starting five-, Trice (21), Luther (3), Sakho (-), Diop (4), Jelínek (3), Rojas (-) and Andronikashvili (-).
80. Unicaja de Málaga (19+14+23+24): Perry (18), Brizuela (13), Kalinoski (2), Thomas (4) and Kravish (-) -starting five-, Osetkowski (10), Ejim (-), Barreiro (5), Alberto Díaz (11), Carter (10) and Sima (7).
Referees: Miguel Ángel Pérez Pérez, Juan de Dios Oyón Cauqui and Alfonso Olivares Iglesias. They eliminated the visitor Kravish (m.40) for five personal fouls.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the twenty-fourth day of the Endesa Basketball League that was played at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia before 5,736 spectators.