The TAU Castelló began the meeting with bad feelings in the defensive section, although the team resisted it thanks to a good scoring start, again, from the American Eric Stutz. Bàsquet Girona was able to easily break the tile defense based on interior blocks that allowed them to find penetrations almost unopposed, which prevented the Castellón players from separating on the scoreboard.
Between the end of the first period and the beginning of the second Toni Ten found a way to stop the hole in the Castellón area with the couple formed by Jorge Bilbao and Kai Edwards. The Dutch pivot played his best minutes of the season providing intensity in defense and many offensive options from the ‘pick & roll’. Still it would not be enough to go to the dressing room ahead: Albert Sabat scored four triples, all of them punctuated, and the Catalan team would end the first half with a six-point advantage and the feeling of dominating the game (36-42).
In the second half a very different game would be experienced: the TAU broke into the meeting under the direction of Alvarado; until he left expelled for a technical foul very controversial for gesturing. However, Toni Ten’s team, far from being distracted by the questionable arbitration decisions, grew, infected by the atmosphere of a Ciutat de Castelló that vibrated like in the play-offs last year.
Carles Marco tried to contain the tile spirit by lining up Josep Franch and Albert Sabat together, the two point guards and reference players of the visiting team. It wouldn’t be enough Toni Ten used one of his most physical quintets and, with Joel Sabaté at the controls of the team, David Höök demonstrating his defensive potential and Jorge Bilbao fighting like a true warrior, the TAU imposed its rhythm in the match.
Girona Basketball survived, but the feelings were of superiority, especially in terms of intensity, of the white-and-green team. Sabaté and Bilbao raised the entire pavilion with their irrepressible effort and their constant struggle to capture every last ball and establish a quick game to score on the fast break or with quick situations. It would be the youth squad from Benicarló, Joel Sabaté, who would end up transformed into a hero of the match, directing the team with a lot of personality in the most complicated moments of the match and scoring the two free throws that would decide a match that ended with battle overtones.
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