Henry Ellenson led the Joventut in his first victory in the Endesa League (85-66) against a Breogan River who was superior to the Catalans in the first half but had no answers, especially in attack, when La Penya put on his overalls and defended after the break.
The American center had 22 points and 12 rebounds -seven of them offensive- and was key for La Penya to turn the score around at the beginning of the third quarter and end up taking the game without problems after a first half in which the The Catalans’ game left a lot to be desired.
Breogán also showed two different faces throughout the game. In the first half he endorsed the locals with 48 points with Bamforth and Nenadic as mainstays in attack, but only added 18 points after the break when Penya put on his overalls and with his most veteran players turned the game around.
The Lugo team doubled the score (9-18) against a very apathetic Joventut with no rhythm of play in the first five minutes of the match thanks to the success of Bamforth and Lukovic in the triples and the good direction of Hollatz.
Veljko Mrsic’s team had a maximum advantage of twelve points (22-34, min.12) against a totally disoriented Joventut in which only Ellenson showed success with 11 points in the first half.
La Penya dominated in the rival paint with 25 points in the first half from his centers, but his 3 of 13 triples prevented him from leveling the game.
Breogán endorsed him with seven triples in the first half and took five rebounds from him under his rim, which led the Lugo team to dominate the game, with Nenadic as the most successful player with 13 points in the first half.
The points from Guy and Birgander tightened the scoring in the final stretch of the first half, which ended with a six-point lead for the breoganistas (42-48).
Breogán got stuck in attack in an alarming way after the break and Ellenson kept rebounding and scoring under the Lugo hoop until they tied the game alone (48-48, min. 24). A three-pointer by Vives put Penya up on the scoreboard again (51-48, min. 25).
The veterans Vives, Ribas and Tomic gave the Catalans the defensive level that they had not had in the first half and Guy’s entry on court with the score favorable to Penya was key to launching it on the scoreboard up to ten points (61- 51, minute 29).
A three-pointer by Andrés Feliz put Penya within a maximum difference of eleven points (66-55, min. 31) and Breogán was left without strength or confidence to play the match against the locals, who with the score at their favor they found themselves much more comfortable.
With Ribas and Vives on the court, the rhythm was set by La Penya, who improved his defensive performance and completely annulled the Lugo players. A mate by Joel Parra left the game over (74-60) with just over four minutes to go.