Bidaideak Bilbao continues to reign in the Copa del Rey wheelchair basketball. The Basque team revalidated their crown, after beating Amiab Albacete (72-80), in the tournament played this weekend at the Miguel Guillén Prim sports center in Madrid and organized by the Spanish Federation of Sports for People with Physical Disabilities (FEDDF ). The team, led by Adrián Yáñez, took a final to which they arrived full of energy. It was not be for lowerly. The semifinals were epic and Bidaideak Bilbao beat Ilunion with a basket from David Mouriz with four seconds remaining in the game. An almost movie ending.
Conscious of its extraordinary potential, the people from Bilbao were imposing their power against Amiab Albacete in a duel that began quite evenly in the first quarter. Already in the second, the Spanish international Asier García threw the team behind him and displayed a strong defense that, together with the success under the basket, allowed him to go to the break with a ten-point advantage. An income, a priori, insurmountable.
The differences in the light increased already in the third quarter, when the points that separated them went from ten to twelve. However, the manchegos did not throw in the towel. His fight, his perseverance and his effort paid off, both in terms of play and results. This is how Amiab reached the last ten minutes just one behind its rival. Already in that final stretch, the Bidaideak reacted. He recomposed himself and squeezed the defensive failures of the manchegos, thanks to the Italian Giulio Maria Papi, a gale, who finished the match with 32 points.
Bidaideak feels comfortable as ‘King of Cups’ and clings to the title for the second year in a row, although it is still a long way to match the list of winners of Ilunion (19 titles), Ademi Málaga (10), ONCE Andalucía (7) and Virgen del Rocío (4). At the moment, the team from Bilbao is tied with ACE Gran Canaria (2) and beats Amiab Albacete (1). where yes has demonstrated its hegemony was in the ideal quintet of the tournamentcomposed of Gregg Warburton (Ilunion), Phil Pratt (Amiab) and James MacSorley, Giulio Maria Papi and Manu Lorenzo (Bidaideak), with Adrián Yáñez (Bidaideak) also being the best coach.