Great victory for Rio Breogán (89-83) that brings them closer to the Copa del Rey from Granada. His weekend loss to Joventut had taken him away from it but he was able to correct that dynamic. Bitci, however, had just fallen to Real Madrid in the Euroleague, won miraculously in Andorra and I was aware of the importance of the shock. It was one of the games that were pending recovery and that allowed closing the first round without having to resort to percentages or mathematics based on averages. The Galicians are very close to the Nasrid capital in the month of February and those of Spahija stray considerably.
The match started with a very inspired mahalbasic in attack. The local pivot got the first 6 points of your team. And that Javier Martín’s Breogán is a team that plays very open and shoots from outside like angels. Baskonia, meanwhile, got triple baskets (two in a row from Granger and Alec Peters). From a tie at 8 in minute 4, it went to 8-15 thanks to a sensational Baskonia partial. Musa did not score until the 6 and a half minute because he was very well defended by Giedraitis in the first instance and by Costello later. Despite everything, he would leave at the end of the quarter with 5 points and 2 rebounds. The Breogán hit a considerable pull and tied the duel at 19, but a serious finish by Spahija’s team and a three-pointer from Baldwin IV left the score at 19-24 after the first ten minutes of play.
El Breo signed a dream second quarter, endorsing 31 points to a Euroleague team. Musa uncovered the jar of essences and went into the break with 18 points in your private account. And it could have been 21 since, at the buzzer, he launched a frontal triple from the center circle that hit the rim. He is an instinctive player who sees baskets as pools. The period started with a triple by Fontecchio and the subsequent response by Kacinas. But the one who really joined the party was Kalinoski, who tried to disguise himself as Musa. From 35-37 after two triples by Sedekerskis and Costello it went to 50-47 at the end of the quarter. Once again, Bitci conceded too much in defense and the Galicians took advantage of it to put on their boots.
The match was tied at 50 and 61 but, again, the Breogán left better feelings. The Bitci insisted on throwing triples and, except for two consecutive Granger, the percentage was extremely poor. What’s more, made some ridiculous losses partly due to the defensive intensity of the lucenses. Enoch’s third personal foul forced a Matt Costello to play many minutes who had a gap in his left eyebrow and received some staples on the same bench. A good finish by Quintela and Cruz stretched the rubber in favor of the Galician team. While Bitci insisted on throwing 6.75, Breo showed more offensive versatility and also looked for inside players. The Baskonia defense, again, very permeable. Too many points against.
With the 69-62 they faced the last ten minutes. The maximum difference that Bitci had had in its favor had been 9 points and, in the blink of an eye, the Breogán was 12 up with the 80-68. In fact, the opening quarter final quarter was 11-6 in 5 minutes. Musa was inspired again, Mahalbasic committed to responsible shots and Quintela enormous in control of the passing lanes and the robberies. With 83-70 everything seemed resolved but Baskonia was able to get to 5 with 85-80. Again he missed shots, saw how rebounds were taken from him and defended with little intensity. He lost fairly or, rather, the Galicians won after a huge job.