UCAM Murcia is the leader of the Endesa League with two victories in two days after beating Saski Baskonia 88-76 this Wednesday in a very solid way in a match that they dominated from the initial 2-0 and in which their five starters finished in double digits of score.
Special prominence for Dylan Ennis and Dustin Sleva, with 17 points each. On the other hand, Marcus Howard’s 23 were clearly insufficient against a team, Sito Alonso’s, that seems to be very serious about the double objective of competing for the first time in its history in the Copa del Rey and the qualifying rounds for the title.
The university students, who debuted by winning 101-104 on the Covirán Granada court in a match with two overtimes, received an opponent who also won their home debut, in their case by 79-88 on the Río Breogán court. from Lugo.
The red team, today in gold, supported by their fans from the start, started with great vigor and their good defense allowed them to command and, with 11-3 and only a 2+1 scored by Maik Kotsar for the visitors, Joan Peñarroya had to call timeout with four and a half minutes of play elapsed.
UCAM CB continued to manage the match with a toned Sleva and a triple by the American power forward contributed to the locals having a nine-point advantage (17-8). The appearance of Chima Moneke evened the match somewhat and the first quarter ended with the result of 18-13.
The second quarter was full of errors on the part of both sides and in that context UCAM CB seemed to be favored (22-13) but Baskonia, with the first basket by Marcus Howard, MVP of the first day, responded with a partial 2-7 to tighten the score.
It was a mirage because Sito’s team remained plugged in on both sides of the court and that translated into a +14 for the Murcians with 38-24 after a triple by Ennis, already at eight points. Thus the break was reached, putting an end to a first half dominated from start to finish by those from the capital of Segura.
After being minimized by their rival and being a victim of their terrible shooting percentages – 6/18 in two-pointers and 1/10 in triples – Baskonia improved after the restart and, with 11 points in three minutes, was less than ten points away (44-35). However, the Swedish connection between Ludde Hakanson and Simon Birgander allowed UCAM CB to regain its maximum advantage after a triple by the point guard that culminated a spectacular action with a recovery by Ennis diving for the ball (51-37). It was surely the best action of the clash.
The Basques, improving their percentage in outside shooting, tried to put pressure but the solidity of their opponent, good in almost everything except from the personal line, meant that they entered the final ten minutes with a 61-48, far from conclusive. but it did make him control the situation with a certain margin of error.
Howard, understanding that it was the moment he had to appear, did so and so did Nico Mannion (67-58). The exchange of baskets in that phase of the clash that occurred with Moussa Digane being the protagonist with his vigor, favored the home team. This season the Murcia team is a compact block without as many ups and downs as in previous campaigns and that helped them to attack their rival’s attacks (71-58 with six minutes left).
The most that Joan Peñarroya’s men achieved in the final stretch was to get within seven points with Howard already assuming almost all the offensive responsibility for his team. The score of 79-72 with 1 minute and 3 seconds left could have given excitement to the outcome, but a triple by Ennis and a dunk by Howard Sant-Roos sealed the match.
Datasheet:
88. UCAM Murcia Basketball Club (18+20+23+25): Hakanson (11), Ennis (17), Kurucs (10), Sleva (17) and Birgander (10) -starting five-, Sant-Roos (7), Caupain (5), Radovic (5), McFadden (-) , Sakho (2) and Diagne (4).
76. Saski Baskonia (13+11+24+26): Howard (23), Mannion (5), Dani Díez (-), Sedekerkis (-) and Kotsar (8) -starting five-, Raieste (3), Marinkovic (5), Miller-McIntyre (11), Rogkavopoulos (6 ), Kalipha Diop (5), Costello (-) and Moneke (10).
Referees: Emilio Pérez Pizarro, Joaquín García González and Carlos Merino Campos. They eliminated the visitor Kalipha Diop due to five personal fouls (m.34).
Incidences: Match corresponding to the second day of the Endesa Basketball League that was played at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia before 4,989 spectators.
2023-09-27 21:00:09
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