Peñarol defeated Nacional 88-69 at Palacio Peñarol in a match corresponding to the second date of the Uruguayan Basketball League.
The aurinegro overcame a slow start and with great performances by his third foreigner and by Mateo Giano managed to turn the score around to end up winning by 19 points.
Peñarol had just beaten Urupan on Friday in its debut 77-70, while Nacional debuted on Thursday with a 71-59 victory against Olimpia.
Peñarol, which for this season once again has Pablo López as coach, started with Salvador Zanotta, Charles Thomas, Diego Pena García, David Huertas and Lee Roberts.
Nacional, which for this season appealed again to Gonzalo Fernández as DT, began playing with Alejandro Acosta, Federico Pereiras, Anthony Danridge, Will Daniels and Gary McGhee.
The game was played only with Peñarol fans and could be played at the Palace because Peñarol paid a significant fine before the start of the League to lift 17 game suspension from his hometown.
Leonardo Carreno
Peñarol fans
The referees were Vivián García, Julio Dutra and Andrés Haller.
Leonardo Carreno
The teams together with a message of solidarity
First quarter
The start of the game was very defensive. Pereiras annulled Huertas while Peñarol also left Danridge at zero.
Acosta was by far the best starter of the game with 10 points (2 of 2 in triples), 3 rebounds and 2 assists.
Leonardo Carreno
Alexander Acosta
McGhee scored 6 and Daniels 4 to mitigate the points that Danridge did not make.
In Peñarol, Pena García scored the two triples he shot and Zanotta contributed 6 points with penetrations. Both left as the best scorers on their team.
But Nacional went up by 4 points: 22-18.
Second bedroom
Peñarol took advantage of Acosta’s break and with a 5-0 run took the lead on the scoreboard (23-18). That led Fernandez to a time request.
Nacional adjusted records and with very good shots from the perimeter reestablished their dominance and took a maximum lead of 6 points (35-29) after a great triple by Miguel Barriola.
Leonardo Carreno
Anthony Danridge
Pereiras scored 8 points and was a key player in the second quarter, adding a goal to his great defense (Huertas continued to score zero).
Daniels contributed 7 points, McGhee and Barriola 3 and Danridge put up at least two points.
In Peñarol, the key man to sustain the team in the match was Mateo Giano with 11 points and a three-pointer at closing to shorten the deficit from 8 to 5 points.
Third quarter
Peñarol adjusted marks at the start of the third quarter and from his tenacious defense began to flow in attack where Huertas finally caught fire.
Nacional’s rim was closed and he was faced with enormous problems to score.
Leonardo Carreno
Will Daniels
Thomas and Roberts each climbed to 12 points, but Huertas scored 17 points in that quarter alone.
The Puerto Rican made an exceptional triple in the closing and that allowed Peñarol to go up 9 points heading into the last quarter.
Last room
Peñarol maintained the defensive tone in the closing and managed to control all of Nacional’s attempts to close the gap.
Huertas continued to be unstoppable in attack while Giano found spaces that he took advantage of very well to score.
Thomas, with 21 points and 7 rebounds, ended up being a great figure in Peñarol.
Huertas seconded him among scorers with 19.
Also Giano with 17 points and 4 rebounds.
Zanotta made another round classic with 10 notes, 12 rebounds and 6 assists.
Lee Roberts scored 15 and had 9 rebounds.
In Nacional Will Daniels was the best with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Pereiras seconded him with 15 points.
Leonardo Carreno
Peñarol’s preview
The match
First quarter: National 22-18
Second quarter: National 43-38
Third quarter: Penarol 66-57
Final: Penarol 88-69
Check out the full game stats here.
Since Peñarol returned to basketball, in 2018, and was promoted to the League, this is the fourth classic. For the 2021 League, on March 18 in Florida, Nacional won 85-67. The match was played without fans, due to the covid-19 pandemic. For the 13th date of the 2021-2022 League, on January 21 of this year, Peñarol won 76-75 away (only with tricolor fans) on the Unión Atlética court. On March 31, for the second round, Peñarol won 74-64 at the Palace, only with local partials.
Monday closes
Penarol 88-69 National
Defender Sporting 82-83 Biguá
Malvin 81-80 Urupan
Olimpia 73-69 Hebraica Maccabi
Larre Borges 74-80 Trouville
Goes-Aguada (Tuesday, 8:15 p.m., Palacio Peñarol)
