Lugo, Apr 20 (EFE).- Unicaja, with a great Tyson Carter (25 points in 22 minutes), the MVP of the Copa del Rey final, took advantage (74-90) of the blackout of the Breogán River at the start from the last quarter to catch up with Lenovo Tenerife in the Endesa League standings (with one more game) in the fight for home field advantage in the playoff that the Lugo team is trying to access.
The people from Malaga, who ensured their presence in the qualifying rounds for the title, added their eighth consecutive win, three in the Champions League and five in the domestic competition, in a match in which they stepped on the accelerator every time their rival approached them, until, finally, the team from Lugo, who were only six points behind (62-68) after three quarters, gave them a free hand towards victory.
The match began with a slow pace and alternation on the scoreboard, to which Ethan Happ transferred the first four points for Breogán, who took the lead with a basket from Bamforth (6-4, m.3)
On his return to Lugo, Kalinoski added his first points after five minutes and there Unicaja began to open up the gap. With a dunk from Kravish and a triple from Osetkowski, he caused Mrsic’s first timeout (8-14, m.6).
The coach, who was reunited with one of the teams he defended as a player, asked his players to move the ball. They tried, but to no avail. Breogán missed the four triples that he tried in the first quarter and only hit five of his ten shots of two.
The Cup champion was not much more successful in that section, who finished the first ten minutes five points up (15-20) and began the second quarter inspired, with points from several hands. He entered with a 0-6 to get 11 up (15-26, m.12).
Tanaskovic woke Breogán up with his team’s first three-pointer of the game and another two points later taking advantage of the visitors’ rotation. Hollatz and Nenadic joined the local reaction and Ibon Navarro stopped the game when he saw the Lugo team down to four points (24-28, m.14).
With a run of 11-2 and after a gift from Ejim to Hollatz, Breogán turned the score around (31-30, m.16). Ejim recovered with a 2+1 and later Brizuela shored up the lead with a triple in an action poorly defended by the Lugo team to take off the Andalusians again (35-40, m.19) who went seven up at halftime (37 -44) in a very bad end of the second quarter for the celestials.
Breogán resumed the game with a loss. A bad sign that Ethan Happ countered with a 2+1 (40-45, m.11). He was neutralized by a great Brizuela, author of Unicaja’s first four points and an assist in the third quarter (40-50, m.22).
The people from Lugo resisted the blows with a 6-0 run (46-50) that Osetkowski partially appeased from 6.75, and they got back into the game (50-53, m.25), but once again Unicaja pressed (50- 58, m.26) and Carter, with eight points in a row, gave the Malaga team a safe distance (57-68, m.28), or so it seemed, because Mrsic’s men recovered their pace and got to six before entering in the last quarter (62-68).
The marker did not move for more than two minutes and Nakic suffered a blow to the side that sent him to the bench. Carter, who else, was the first to hit it on his big night and, furthermore, with a triple. Dedovic raised the lead to eleven points (62-73, m.34) in the offensive blackout of Breogán.
It took the team from Lugo 4:30 to score, but by then the game had already slipped away and, with it, the possibility of equaling the eighth in the table, Valencia Basket.
– Datasheet:
74 – Río Breogán (15+22+25+12): Bamforth (5), Momirov (3), Hollatz (13), Happ (14), Nakic (4) -starting five- Sergi Quintela (4), Nenadic ( 17), Brajkovic (-), Sergi Garcia (5), Tanaskovic (9).
90 – Unicaja Málaga (20+24+24+22): Osetkowski (8), Kalinoski (7), Brizuela (11), Kravish (8), Perry (11) -initial five- Barreiro (2), Thomas (4 ), Djedovic (9), Carter (25), Ejim (3), Sima (2).
Referees: Martín Caballero, Francisco Araña and Andrés Fernández Carretero.
Incidents: Match of the twenty-eighth round of the Endesa League played at Pazo dos Deportes in Lugo before 5,030 spectators.