The local staging was wonderful. Baxi Manresa opened the tie with a 16-0 lead that displaced the rival. Led by Dani Pérez, the local team offered a game of a high level, both tactical and execution. Unicaja, on the other hand, missed the first 23 field goal attempts. The visiting team took 14 minutes to score their first basket (33-4). The match ended in a draw (47-21).
Far from relaxing, Baxi Manresa took advantage of the third quarter to widen the gap. Ibon Navarro tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors’ defense got the best of this rather direct style of play. Pedro Martínez, who is turning the Bages team game into a work of art, was able to find everyone’s participation in a night that summed up the consistency of a project done with much less budget than the opponent.
The second match of the quarterfinals will be played on Tuesday 12 April in Malaga. If a third match was needed, it would be played on Wednesday 20 at the Nou Congost.
