The Sporting team was struggling to find its rhythm on the island of Madeira, but they overcame the discomfort caused by Galomar, a team from Funchal, by the mid-point of the second period. They built a clear and secure victory, winning 82-94 in a game from the 19th round of the regular season of the basketball league.
At the end of the first ten minutes, the Lions, who are currently in third place and can’t afford to slip up in the fight for the top of the championship, found themselves at a disadvantage of four points (20-16) against the Madeira team. Galomar was showing levels of efficiency in shooting and rebounding that didn’t match their last-place position in the league.
The green and white reaction came in the second period, and it was intense. The Sporting team pressed defensively and improved in all key actions, quickly recovering from the deficit (15-28) to take a nine-point lead at halftime (35-44).
Two players stood out: Anthony Barber, with 22 points, two rebounds, and three assists, and Nicholas Ward, with 18 points and 13 assists. The Sporting team took control of the game and never let it slip. However, they shifted from a strongly offensive approach to managing their lead.
The Alvalade team continued to lead the results of the periods (25-27 in the third and 22-23 in the fourth) and closed the game with a comfortable 12-point lead.
Ivan Kostourkov: “Best Sporting of the season”
The Sporting team’s assistant coach, Ivan Kostourkov, was pleased with the team’s performance: “It was our best version in the 2024/2025 season, the best Sporting of the season. We faced a team that needed to win to try to achieve their goal of staying in the league, and we had an excellent performance. We scored over 90 points, had 50% efficiency in three-pointers (13/16), and only allowed seven offensive rebounds to Galomar, the strongest team in the league in that aspect.”