Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE).- Real Madrid sealed their ticket to the Endesa League semifinals after beating Dreamland Gran Canaria in their second play-off match (81-89), thus putting the final 2- 0 in the series thanks to Dzanan Musa’s 22 points and Tavares’ PIR of 25 (12 points and 12 rebounds).
Despite the efforts of the Polish duo made up of AJ Slaughter (17 points) and Olek Balcerowski (12 and 15 PIR), the Claretian team says goodbye to the second phase of the Endesa League after losing to Real Madrid that will face now to Joventut de Badalona in the next round.
The visitors began taking the baton of the clash with a scoring rhythm difficult to contain and prominence in the success in the outside of Musa and the power in the area of Tavares (3-8).
However, the Claretians held their own with an inspired Brussino from the perimeter, accompanied by Vitor Benite on the outside and by Balcerowski in the paint, managing to unbalance the contest in their favor (18-16) after a dunk from Inglis to 4: 00 minutes to finish the first quarter.
However, Madrid managed to adjust their defense in the final moments, scoring the first set after a new shot from the perimeter by Musa and a hook by Tavares (18-21).
In the second period the equality continued. Rudy Fernández got a mattress of six points (18-24) that immediately found an island reply with a penetration by Salvó and a subsequent triple by Slaughter (23-24).
From then on, errors and personal fouls multiplied in both rings, a circumstance that allowed Slaughter and Salvó to put Dreamland back in the forefront (29-24, at 6:00 for the break).
After the timeout requested by Chus Mateo, the visitors took a breather again with the rotations, with five points from Hezonja and two layups from Llull to seal a 0-9 run (29-33).
The return of Balcerowski and Slaughter managed to put the tables once again in the electronic of the Gran Canaria Arena, but at the end of the first half Hezonja managed to scratch one more tray for the whites (37-39), showing a match script that had nothing to do with it. to do with what was experienced in the first duel of the series.
At the restart, Madrid put the direct, rushing the speed of Williams-Goss and the versatility of Musa (37-46).
Lakovic’s pupils tried to minimize the injury with more outside shots, but the bleeding continued (48-50). It would be with Benite and Diop when Dreamland would return to equalize the clash (52-52).
It was then that Musa’s ‘show’ emerged, which became a real jackhammer for the yellow trench. Llull trailed behind and, meanwhile, Tavares prevented both Inglis and Diop from showing off in the area.
A final triple almost from the midfield of ‘Chacho’ Rodríguez raised the differences above ten (56-67).
Already in the last quarter, Rodríguez took over from Musa, entering a three-point contest that allowed his team to stretch the lead to 16 points (61-77). But when it seemed that the match was already doomed, Nikolic and Slaughter revived a Gran Canaria on the brink of a coma with a 15-0 run (76-77, 3:45 to go).
A new triple by Salvó put the tie (79-79) that Llull would undo shortly after (79-81) in a mad denouement. Hezonja’s wrist and Slaughter’s own began to suffer and the match began to turn into free-kick roulette.
With 81-85 in the electronic, Nikolic missed the triple that would have revived Gran Canaria once again in a heart attack duel. But Yabusele’s free throws with 27 seconds left and the subsequent shots from Williams-Goss’s personal line dictated a more even match than the score reflected at the end (81-89).
Datasheet:
81. Dreamland Gran Canaria (18+19+19+25): Balcerowski (12), Benite (7), Albicy (-), Brussino (6) and Shurna (5) -initial team-; Nikolic (8), Slaughter (17), Saved (10), Inglis (8) and Diop (8).
Coach: Jaka Lakovic.
89. Real Madrid (21+18+28+22): Williams-Goss (10), Hanga (4), Tavares (12), Yabusele (4) and Musa (22) – starting team-; Causeur (-), Randolph (-), Fernandez (3), Hezonja (7), Rodriguez (13), Llull (14) and Ndiaye (-)
Coach: Chus Mateo.
Referees: Carlos Peruga, Carlos Cortés and Juan de Dios Oyón.
Incidents: Second match corresponding to the quarterfinals of the Endesa League played at the Gran Canaria Arena. In the run-up to the match, the president of the yellow club, SItapha Savané, presented the UD Las Palmas coach, Xavier García Pimienta, with a commemorative shirt on the occasion of the island team’s promotion to LaLiga Santander. Spectator data not provided.