Unicaja won a golden victory that keeps them away from relegation and makes them dream again of the playoff for the title, against a Betis that sinks to last placeor. There are already five defeats and not entirely positive feelings to pray for a reaction. Evas’ 22 points were not enough. 17 losses is too many. And Unicaja was devastating with the triples. He scored 15.
The first quarter was zigzagging. Unicaja started very successful opening in the first four minutes a 13-4 neutralized by the Betis with a partial of 2-9. When the people from Malaga get stuck with the triples, the rivals squeeze him.
Luis Casimiro’s men kept up with the success of Evans, an elastic and resourceful player. Bouteille’s entry, recovered from his injury, coincided with a triple that returned the lead nine (29-20 min. 13), a difference that rose to 12 with another great shot by Mooney. With 32-20, Luis Casimiro was forced to call a timeout.
The Sevillian defense did not work (34-20) and the triple went back in (5/12). The Betis did not want to let go and reduced the disadvantage to 38-30, which brought them back to the match. The break was reached with 44-34. Not to change, the rebound, that aspect that is improving a lot since the arrival of Ibon, continued to be unfavorable to Carpena, 18 to 19 for Betis.
But in the third set Unicaja caught his classic bird attemptbecause he got the opponent into the fight. Great minutes from Wiley and Brown, better defense and mistake from the outside by the Greens tightened the score until an uncertain 55-51 (min. 25). But the losses, one of the reasons that Betis is bottom, were executed when the options were to get to only two points. What happened was that Brizuela shot to rebound to extend the lead again (63-51). An 8-0 run that disarmed the reaction to Casimiro’s men. Nail the work of Matt Mooney, a good defender who has a more than interesting mid-range shot. Minute 30 was reached with an unthinkable maximum difference. 73-59 with three very bad minutes for the Betis.
Betis had to go all out because the opportunities to remain are moving away. A triple by Francis Alonso and another by Bouteille widened the lead to 16 points (79-63) with growth in the Frenchman’s game, a technically impeccable player, but marked by his streaks for better or worse. The aforementioned losses of the Betis (17) and the outside shot of the locals (14/26 in triples) broke the match. At 35′ 89-66 after another triple by Cameron. 23 point lead.
Unicaja ended up playing at will (91-66 after a layup by Rubén Guerrero). Since then, Betis could only aspire to cover up the catastrophe. Striking that Nzosa only played, in the garbage minutes, a minute and little else. This young player, who burst like a rocket, has stopped his progression. In summary. Clear victory for Unicaja, second in a row, against a sinking Betis.