LEB Gold: Double victory and everything is still alive (70-63)

Everything is still alive for the last day. Acunsa Gipuzkoa Basket did its part, beating Prat (70-63), a gesture eternally grateful to Juaristi, and will enter the playoffs if they win in Castellón and Real Valladolid lose in Palma, already relegated. That’s how simple the accounts are. The victory by more than eight points against TAU ​​must be forgotten now because the only way to qualify is through a triple tie with the Castellón and Pucelanos, which benefits Gipuzkoa Basket.

The people from San Sebastian were finally able to afford to play a more dynamic and back-and-forth game because it is also the style of play that suits the Catalans best, but it had been so long since they played that basketball that it was rusty and they couldn’t master it , so the outcome of the match was uncertain until the end. They did not take advantage of the nerves of the young Prat players and a victory that could be certified at the beginning of the second half had to be made to beg due to the continuous errors in the direction of the game and in the passes.

One of the tasks that had to be fulfilled, yes or yes, was that of defending the defensive rebound and Gipuzkoa Basket did very well, having the option of running without the defense still being planted, but that desire to quickly reach the opposite basket caused many unnecessary turnovers, the desperation of those attending the bullring and that the advantage could not be extended. There were up to sixteen discarded possessions and eleven steals by Berrocal’s team, a sign of the number of counterattack baskets he was able to achieve.

The success in the launches by the two teams was more or less. 22-24 in the first quarter and 18-17 in the second thanks on the one hand to the great role of Delas and Simons, who had a streak of nine consecutive points, and point guards Costa and Crockett on the other. The Croatian enjoyed one of the best games of the season and had a one-on-one duel with Ibargüen, in which the reading of the block and continuation and his greater wingspan helped him to make 17 points and 8 rebounds.

The meeting reached 40-41 at the break and after the break El Prat spent more than eight minutes in the third quarter without putting a basket in play, an opportunity to open a gap, but in that section the score only went from 40-43 to 51- 45, and four straight points from the veteran Blanch returned to level the match and put doubts in the body.

It was important for the psychological aspect of the team that they did not look down on the scoreboard in the final quarter. From 46-45 they did not give up the lead and the Catalans the closest they came to Gipuzkoa Basket was two points, the last time at 2:40. Two consecutive plays of good ball circulation with executions by Simons and Delas sentenced the match less than two minutes from the end.

Finally a 70-63 victory and Acunsa Gipuzkoa Basket closes an irregular season in Illunbe with the hope of the playoff intact.