Wednesday, November 18, 2020 | 11:40 PM.
OTC fell 78 to 62 against Quimsa de Santiago del Estero for the 8th date of the North zone of the National Basketball League. The partials of the game were 15-22, 15-16 (30-38); 16-26 (46-64) and 16 to 14 (65-78)
In this result, the missionary representative added his sixth defeat in eight presentations of the competition that was suspended yesterday due to the number of Covid-19 cases.
El Celeste arrived decimated by the absence of his foreigners Kent and Efianayi, both isolated, the first with a diagnosis of Covid-19 and the second for prevention, since he shared a room with his compatriot.
Neither did Ariel Zago, who traveled to Chaco to attend the delivery of his wife, nor the injured Rodrigo Sánchez.
In front was Quimsa, nothing more and nothing less than the current champion of the Americas Champions League, a team that had four foreigners, a fact that shows its potential.
With the aforementioned losses, the group led by Leandro Hiriart lost size in the painting, a key aspect in the result that was almost sung.
In any case, Celeste exhibited self-esteem, made up for the lack of personnel with dedication and rounded off a decent performance.
At the beginning, the Santiago team brought out their highest hierarchy and achieved a first light of 9-0 lead, with Cosolito and Diez as offensive referents.
A triple by Cantarutti narrowed the disadvantage, but former OTC Copello answered in the reply from long range.
Given the marked difference in height, Celeste leaned on the perimeter shot and Ruiz appeared with two pumps to discount, the same Brocal on the closing, to close 22-15 down the first quarter. Unfortunately, Ruiz was immediately injured.
In continuity, the Quimsa coach renewed the offense with Gramajo and Baralle. On the other hand, the kid Fragozo did not miss the chance and contributed a triple, the same as Schoppler and Cantarutti. OTC clung to the perimeter as the main way of scoring and stayed in juice. Thus, the second quarter ended 38-30 in favor of Quimsa.
As if something was missing, when they went to the changing rooms Hiriart complained to the referees and was sent off.
After the long OTC break, he maintained his intensity and reached a goal thanks to Schoppler, but the rival deployed his wide repertoire and was stretching the advantage.
A fact: at the end of the third quarter Quimsa had taken 43 rebounds against 21 of the rival. Under these conditions, with no inside game, OTC brought out a lot of courage and bet everything on the perimeter. A triple by Brocal and another by Feder Ponce reduced to 12 (64-52).
But faced with the demand, the missionary team was loaded with fouls, so Quimsa dominated on both sides of the field and achieved a clear victory.
