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A comeback to believe: Alimerka Oviedo wins (94-101) its third game after equalizing a duel that it lost by 18 with 7:30 remaining and which was taken in extra time

Afanion Almansa, 94-Alimerka Oviedo, 101

Quarters: 23-16; 22-21; 29-20; 12-29; 8-15

Referees: Jorge Muñoz, Elena Espiau, Rodrigo Palanca. Edu Martínez was excluded for 5 fouls.

Almansa Pavilion: Thousand spectators. Local Idehen was injured warming up.

The Alimerka Oviedo Basketball of comebacks has returned. The blue team achieved victory yesterday against Almansa thanks to a spectacular last quarter, in which they managed to equalize (86-86) a game that they were losing by 18 points (79-61) with 7:30 minutes to go and which they ended up winning clearly (94-101) in overtime. The OCB game was bad until that last quarter. Trifón Poch’s men, once again unsuccessful in the outside shot, faded and lost confidence as they erred in attack, lowering their arms in defence. This victory is pure gold for the Asturian team and means confirming the reaction, with three victories (the three they have) in the last four games that allow them to stick out a bit in the standings and put pressure on their rivals in the fight for the permanence.

The staging of Alimerka Oviedo was good. It soon became clear that the OCB wanted to be that team that uses their hands a lot in defense, that presses the ball out and tries to make their opponents play uncomfortable. And on top of that with Oliver Arteaga who is playing at an enormous level when he has less than a month left to turn 40 (he had a PIR of 35, with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists). A basket of his put the OCB up six (4-10) when two and a half minutes had been played. But that’s where almost everything ended. The team began to fail and break down, something that is happening in many games. El Almansa, with a Harris II who saw the hoop as a swimming pool, added comfortably. Good game also with the Almansa of the naviego Javi Menéndez.

The second quarter was reached with Almansa up seven (23-16) and with the feeling that the game was slipping away from the OCB. And this was confirmed in the following two, in which the difference did not stop growing until the 17 points (74-57) with which the last set began. But there everything changed. Arteaga, who is always there, was joined by other actors, especially Romeo Crouch, who until then had been denied. A couple of his baskets and an attacking foul that he then took gave the OCB (82-71) hope and Almansa fear. Romeo continued to find Arteaga and in the end some free kicks from LeCesne ended up tying the game. Romeo was wrong later, who had the ball to win, but in overtime there was no color.

Thorir Thorbjarnarson joined the party and was instrumental in taking the match in some comfort. A victory that is a treasure for an OCB who was the hero in a movie with the best suspense.

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