Second consecutive defeat for UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid. The team from Valladolid could not bring the victory from the leader’s court, a Coto Córdoba that demonstrated its status as first classified with an offensive display and external success (82-78). The visitors had no response or enough points to face the local inspiration, and fell after trailing for practically the entire match in a match in which they once again had a rotation of nine professionals due to the losses of Fares Ochi and Pau Carreño. The fight of the purple team allowed them to reach the final stretch with options and they went, in one last push, from a disadvantage of 16 points to the 4 with which the match ended.
Since the ball was thrown into the air and spurred by the locals’ defeat last weekend, the only one of the season, Coto Córdoba showed its status as a leader and the virtues, mainly offensive, that place it as first classified. A brilliant start from the Córdoba team put a severe 12-2 in just three minutes, with the Andalusians tremendously inspired and scoring in all their possessions, already with two triples hit. It didn’t take long for David Barrio to call the first timeout of the contest and try to restart the match with a better version of his team.
UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid achieved it immediately and from behind. Like a watering can that makes the grass sprout again, the visiting team’s rotations changed the face of the game from the defense. A 0-7 partial put the Valladolid team within striking distance of the Andalusian team (12-9) and allowed David Barrio’s team to grow. In fact, the response was also forceful, with a 3-14 that Pablo Martín scored on a court that he knows well and that was the first advantage for the squirrels (15-16). It didn’t last long for the squirrels since the Cordobans took the first quarter (19-18), but having come back from a 10-point deficit was great news in itself.
Reediting the script from the beginning, Coto Córdoba repeated it with a brilliant, tremendously inspired start to the quarter (7/14 in triples at halftime), and UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid once again gave ground. Three consecutive triples from Gonzalo Rodríguez’s team opened the gap (30-21) and once again forced David Barrio to ask for another ceasefire in the form of a timeout.
The coach from Valladolid, sanctioned with a technique in that section, made a move and put his two bases on the court together: Pablo Marín and Pau Isern, with Taiwo as an internal reference after a few minutes without ‘five’. The loss of Fares Ochi forced them to juggle the inside game and the loss of Pau Carreño alarmingly shortened the rotation, but despite the absences, UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid got back on its feet effectively. Two triples from the Sevillian ‘6’ brought Pucela closer again (31-27), although the Andalusians, led by an immense Ja’Monta Black (22 points in the first half) once again took advantage before the break (43-35). It was time to come back again against a better team so far, Coto Córdoba CB.
No points or time for a comeback
And everything was about improving performance in defense, something achieved only for a few minutes of the first quarter, and because it was a bit less in terms of the local triples. The first came by purple will, the second not by green and white inspiration. Although UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid improved, Coto Córdoba, with two three-pointers at the buzzer and from very far away, stopped the visitors’ first attempts at a comeback (49-39).
Gonzalo Orozco’s triples fell with snow and with a sledgehammer, but Pucela remained firm. A gust of wind visited the purples, and not a branch shook the tree because David Barrio’s team continued with a very, very competitive version. A triple by Iñaki Ordóñez once again put Pucela in the slipstream (49-44) and led to the home team’s timeout.
The team from the caliphal city once again opted for triples in a moment of need and, again with some luck, struck when the Castilians were most lurking. Another three-pointer from the corner and on the horn, the tenth local goal (out of 21 attempts, something unusual), put UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid away (56-47). With ten minutes left, in fact, the Cordobans increased their lead to ten points (60-50).
Another triple, the umpteenth, raised the green and white’s maximum advantage to +13 (63-50) and represented a new blow, always from long distance, by a very inspired Coto Córdoba CB. And every attempt by the Castilians to recover was always punished by three points from the locals, until UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid had neither time nor points to turn the match around.
But the purple ones did not capitulate and continued, still exhausted and accusing the very short rotation, fighting to fight for the basketaverage in the last minutes, a factor that can be vital at the end of the regular league. Managing leads close to ten points, Gonzalo Rodríguez’s men continued hammering from three and led by up to 16, but a last effort by Pucela left them at only 4 when the horn sounded at the end of the game. In fact, if it weren’t for the free throws that the visitors missed (16/22) and for running out of time when they were closest to the rival, the fate of the game could well have been different. However, the visit to Coto Córdoba ended in defeat, the second in a row and third of the season.
Once again with little time to recover legs or players, UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid will play the third match of a series of five in just two weeks with the visit to Pisuerga of Jaén Paraíso Interior set for this Saturday the 13th at 7:00 p.m.
82 – Coto Córdoba CB: Garden Orozco (14), let’s’ It is also used: Lian Churchill Sorensen (5), Alejandro Orozco (0), Kevin Schutte (-), Pablo Sánchez (11), Nuha Sagnia (4), Fernando Bello (5) and J. Baena (–).78 – UEMC Baloncesto Valladolid: Pablo Marín (9), Isaac ‘Ice’ Haney (16), Jacob Hanna (7), Iñaki Ordóñez (10), Samuel Taiwo (1q) -starting quintet-. Also playing: Juan García-Abril (0), Pau Isern (11), Íñigo Hansen (-), Pablo Martín (9) and Edu Arqués (4).
Partials: 19-18, 24-17, 17-15 and 22-28 (82-78 final).
Referees: Melwani Chugani and Muñoz Herrera.
incidences: Match corresponding to the tenth day of the Second FEB, played at the Vista Alegre Sports Palace in Córdoba on Wednesday, December 10, 2025.
