Joventut Badalona added their third consecutive victory against a much inferior Baxi Manresa (68-90) in the Endesa League, which places them in the top eight with six victories and leaves Pedro Martínez’s team in a worrying situation.
A great start for the green and blacks (2-14) led by Pau Ribas, who scored three triples from three attempts, marked the entire game, which those from Badalona sealed in the third quarter at 46-72.
Andrés Feliz (16 points) and Simon Birgander (13 points and 7 rebounds) were the most outstanding of the good green-and-black choral performance, while for Baxi Manresa only Jordan Caroline (10 points) and Tyson Pérez (11 points) were up to the game.
Baxi Manresa started very badly. It took him more than three minutes to score his first basket and turnovers (11 in the first half) Fruit of the good green-black defense and his little presence in the inside game conditioned him against the green-black towers.
Those from Bages woke up with the rotations led by Tyson Perez and Ferrari (11-18, min. 7), but Pedro Martínez’s team lacked rhythm and defensive intensity to tighten the screws on Carles Duran’s men, who dominated well the match.
ABSTRACT
90 – Joventut Badalona (27+21+26+16): Feliz (16), Ribas (11), Parra (7), Ellenson (5), Birgander (13) -initial team-, Busquets (8), Guy (13), Ventura (-), Vives (11), Tomic (6), Maronka (-) and Kraag (-).
referees: Cortes, Martinez and Zamorano. No deleted.
incidents: match corresponding to the tenth day of the Endesa League played in the Nou Congost pavilion in Manresa before 4,733 spectators.
Kyle Guy returned the 12-point lead to La Penya (11-23, min, 8), which fell to eight at the end of the first quarter (19-27). He got stuck again in attack by Baxi Manresa at the start of the second period and Joventut went to their maximum advantage after a two plus one from Birgander and a 0-7 start of the quarter (19-34, min. 14).
Joventut controlled the game and did not allow their advantage to be less than ten points despite Baxi Manresa’s flurries of play led by Jordan Caroline and Tyson Pérez.
Parra maintained the fifteen point lead after a two plus one (32-47, min. 19) and Baxi Manresa managed to leave the difference at halftime by eleven points (37-48) with a final basket by Badio.
The game was resolved in the third quarter. when Joventut went up to a maximum difference of 26 points (46-72, min. 29) against a Baxi Manresa without answers on the pitch.
Andrés Feliz launched Penya with nine consecutive points at the start of the third period (44-57, min. 23) and there was no one to stop the Badalona team, who stepped on the accelerator with Vives and Parra until the match was sentenced (46 -72, min 29).
Dani Pérez broke out in the triples at the start of the last period to put his team within 16 points (62-78, min. 34), but if the locals had any hope of making the game difficult for the visitors, they vanished after a turnover by Harding and a triple by Guy (62-81, min. 36).