With the play-off guaranteed for a couple of days, Bàsquet Girona had the following challenge in mind. To guarantee the track factor in the first round, they had to win at least one of the two remaining games to finish the regular season – the last one will be next Friday in Alicante. Aware of the advantage that this would mean, those of Jordi Sargatal did not fail yesterday against Movistar Estudiantes (70-68) in a full Fontajau and at the height of the game that was being played, which could be perfectly a taste of what will live in the play-offs because both Girona and Madrid, according to qualifiers, will have to seek promotion in this way after Granada beat Almansa yesterday (102-60) and proclaimed a new ACB team.
Bàsquet Girona came out very focused and ready to fight every ball. Marc Gasol (23 points, 30 points), ubiquitous in both attack and defense, was the team’s guide. The first basket was the work of Fjellerup, forcing Estudiantes to react and prove why they are second. The Madrilenians were more successful in the shot, especially from the 6.75 line with Dee. It was no coincidence that Girona, no matter how small, went to tow on the scoreboard in the first quarter.
We had to stay in the game. And Albert Sàbat made sure that this was the case with a triple that equaled 20-20 again. The Girona team even got ahead, but Estudiantes would not allow it for a long time. However, those of Sargatal cheered. Gasol covered the rivals well and Jawara was ready to cause a foul that would give them the advantage they were looking for (39-31) before the break.
The victory had to be confirmed in the second half. Bàsquet Girona never stopped believing in it. In fact, Urtasun put the maximum advantage of 10 points only to start the third quarter (41-31), although the Madrilenians did not take long to dry it. Girona was always ahead without being able to break the game and suffered until the last second. Urtasun made it 70-68 and with six seconds left Beiran missed the triple of the victory.
