Lenovo Tenerife did not know how to stop the good success of Bitci Baskonia and was defeated at Santiago Martín by 78-91 in a match where the visitors managed to control and dominate the match from almost the beginning, which allowed them to win the coefficient of points to the islanders in case of a tie and placed in fifth position.
After the success of the team from Tenerife in the Champions League played in Bilbao, which was celebrated this Wednesday by their fans, it was difficult for them to concentrate for this event, despite the attempts, from the bench, to control the match, but Bitci Baskonia He came to Tenerife with things very clear and willing to continue fighting to be among the top four in the regular league.
A great game for the team from Vitoria, an irregular Lenovo Tenerife and a leading role for the referees, who did not satisfy any team and ended up pointing out five techniques, two of them to the coach of Lenovo Tenerife, Txus Vidorreta, who was almost unable to direct the game in the second half.
It was difficult for Lenovo Tenerife to enter the match and Bitci Baskonia took good advantage of that to control the match: the visitors dominated, at this start of the match, both the inside and outside game, taking advantage of the facilities given by the locals who could not enter the game, only Shermadini from the free kick and scoring some isolated ball.
Bitci Baskonia gradually increased the distances from the first quarter (9-17, min. 6) and 11-24, min. 19) with a good attacking game, both with baskets from the outside with Marinkovic as the protagonist or from within with Enoch.
At the end of the first quarter it was clear 13-28 where Txus Vidorreta had put eleven of the twelve players of his team on the field and without finding that quintet that could face the power of the rival.
The island team came out with a different attitude in the second quarter and the result of this was their better disposition and attitude on the field. Lenovo Tenerife reduced the difference to nine points (23-32) and after the time out of the Baskonia coach, Lenovo Tenerife changed their individual defense to a zone, seeking to turn the game around.
He succeeded at times and managed to get 25-32 with six straight points from Aaron Doornekamp, but Bitci Baskonia knew how to stop this good local game and did it with the exterior success that Marinkovic gave them to be able to go into the break with an income of 18 points (33-51).
The third quarter was very intense with a Tenerife team that was not happy with the score. They pressed on defense, looked for greater success in attack and managed to reduce the differences to three points (57-60) one minute from the end of the period.
In this part of the match, the second technique fell to Txus Vidorreta, another to Spahija and one more to Peters. It was, without a doubt, the best moment of the clash with a grown Tenerife against a Baskonia that dropped out of the game. It was Gietratis who, with two triples in a row, cut the local reaction (57-66).
At stake, not only the victory but also the “basket average”, after the people from Tenerife won in Vitoria by a difference of six points (65-71). In this final stretch of the crash, the Baskonia did not allow the Lenovo Tenerife to get close. He worked well on defense and was successful on offense. Great success of Giedriatis and Baldwin in the outside shots that led Baskonia to victory. The four triples scored in this quarter by Wiltjer were of little use.