Roberto Íñiguez and Spar Girona had a plan, but something went wrong because the recovery operation that was supposed to take place in Fontajau has not even started (66-68). The film ended up being a very different one, with Uni as secondary, until it tried to react when it was already losing by 17 (23-30) and Besiktas as the main protagonist. The fragility in the first part of Girona, who recovered Tolo, but lost Labuckiene, is really worrying. And the problem is no longer having been eliminated in the semi-finals of the Eurocup, a more than worthy result, but knowing what this team can aspire to from now until the end of the season. Can such an irregular block compete for the Cup and the League or will it be too much if they go to the play-offs and manage to reach the semi-finals?
Neither stop Evans (14 points), although this has been done a bit, nor control the rebound, nor take a step forward in defense. Uni couldn’t even tickle the starting Turkish team, a rival who at halftime was already booking tickets to go to London to play the final with the Lions seeing how they dominated by 15 (23-38) on the scoreboard. Íñiguez, before the end of the first quarter, had already brought out on the court nine of the ten players who have had minutes; Besiktas, meanwhile, continued as in the first leg, with only one rotation and six players, although in the second half, and with the tie won, more players entered. Evans, maybe yes, has been a little more canceled than in the first leg, but Bayram and Nogic appeared, and Li, despite getting early with two personals, was a wall under the ring.
Uni has been able to believe very little in the comeback. It immediately became clear that it would be an impossible mission. If you score just four points in the first five minutes, you have little hope of overturning 21 points. At the start of the third quarter they were already down by 17 (23-40) and the only thing that could be aspired to, at this point, was for the ordeal to end as soon as possible. It is clear that it is a success for Uni to have reached this far, which were the European semi-finals… but to end like this was perhaps the worst possible script.
Fortunately, the team did not give up and tried to continue competing. The 33-40 with a partial 10-0 thanks to a 2+1 and a triple by Canella changed the face of the game a little when there were still six minutes left to end the third quarter. Magarity has put the locals at five (37-42). With the tie lost a while ago, maybe they could fight for the consolation prize, at least win the game, also taking advantage of the fact that the opponent increased the rotation and made Topuzovic and Uzunoglu appear on the court for the first time in the tie. A three-pointer from Mendy on the horn closed the third quarter five down (45-50).
The possibility of winning, therefore, has ended up giving a little life in the last minutes, those who are not satisfied are because they do not want to. An unsportsmanlike play by Nogic allowed Canella to put Girona at 4 (50-54) and in the following possession Magarity made it 52-54, with more than five minutes still ahead. Fontajau celebrated as a victory Ygueravide’s triple that put Uni within one (55-56), as well as Ainhoa López’s basket that put the Girona team ahead for the first time (59-58), with technical to Evans, who would miss the last three and a half minutes. A triple by Peña tied the game again with less than a minute to go (66-66), but two seconds later Lazic gave the Turks victory (66-68). Of course, Fontajau was a clamor with shouts of “being from Uni is the best there is” to say goodbye on the last European night of the season and said goodbye to the players with an ovation while the visiting bench celebrated the ticket for the final.
2024-03-14 20:01:43
#Spar #Girona #comeback #option #Besiktas #Eurocup
