Premiere in 2026 in Lugo. Unicaja starts the new year in Galicia, where it will face Río Breogán this Saturday, January 3 (9:00 p.m., broadcast on DAZN and ⇒Unicaja Basketball Radiolive from Le Grand Café Centro). The people from Malaga will appear on a field that they have not done particularly well in their last visits, so it will be an interesting challenge for this beginning of the year and continue getting closer to the goal of qualifying for the Copa del Rey.
It will not be an easy task, since in front of it is a Río Breogán in search of good sensations. The Galicians want to reverse their current dynamic, since they have lost four of their last five games. Of course, losing the last two days against teams in a playoff position and by a small difference. Last Monday against Kosner Baskonia by 100 to 103 and the penultimate match played on the Joventut de Badalona field by 83 to 75.
In sum, the Lugo team have a balance of five wins and eight losses that places them in 13th position in the standings, having surpassed teams such as Casademont Zaragoza (84-88), Coviran Granada (95-74), UCAM Murcia (83-96), Recoletas Salud San Pablo Burgos (105-78) and Surne Bilbao (100-99).
Lugo resists Unicaja in recent years
Both teams have faced each other 35 times throughout the regular phase of the Endesa League, with 25 wins for Unicaja and 10 for Río Breogán. But if we stick to the Pazo dos Deportes de Lugo, the balance is 11 wins and 7 losses on a field where the Malaga team have lost in three of their last five visits, including the one that took place last season (81-79). Therefore, it will not be an easy game for Ibon Navarro’s team.
⇒ALL PRECEDENTS
Many reunions
In Saturday’s match, the two teams will experience a day of reunions between players with pasts in both teams. An old acquaintance, Francis Alonso, has been on the Lugo side since this season. The guard from Malaga, trained in Los Guindos and who played two seasons in the first team (2020-2022), will face his former team again. He will not be the only recognizable face, since Río Breogán coach Luis Casimiro led Unicaja in 144 games during two stages (2012 and from 2018 to January 2021).
On the other hand, on the Malaga side there are two players with a Lucientino past: Emir Sulejmanovic and Tyler Kalinoski. The Bosnian interior was at the then Cafés Candelas Breogán in the 2018-19 season, while the American shooter was part of the Galician team in the 2021-22 season, in which he left pleasant memories before signing for Unicaja.
Statistics
Río Breogán appears highlighted in several statistical sections that reflect the intensity of its game. The Galicians are the third best team in offensive rebounds (12.77); fourth in recoveries (8.31) and free throw success (78.83%); and fifth in points scored (89.15) and triples (10.23).
On an individual level, the most outstanding of the Lugo team is Francis Alonso. The guard from Malaga scores 14.5 points with high percentages (51.3% on 2-point shots and 46.9% on three-pointers), 1.6 rebounds for a 14.5 efficiency. He is accompanied on the perimeter by Keandre Cook (12.4 points, 3.2 rebounds), Aleksandar Aranitovic (6.7 points, 3.8 rebounds) and Arturs Kurucs (7 points, 2.1 rebounds).
In the direction, DeWayne Russell (9.1 points, 5.7 assists) and Dominik Mavra (7.2 points, 4.5 assists) are in charge of controlling the game of Río Breogán, while in the paint the tall Danko Brankovic (10.1 points, 4.3 rebounds), the versatile Mihajlo Andric (7 points, 2.9 rebounds) and Dragan Apic (3.2 points, 1.7 rebounds) and the intimidators Jordan Sakho (5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds) and Bakary Dibba (7.2 points, 3.8 rebounds).
Unicaja will face Río Breogán this Saturday, January 3, starting at 9:00 p.m. at the Pazo dos Deportes in Lugo. The match, corresponding to Matchday 14 of the Endesa League, will be broadcast by DAZN and ⇒Unicaja Basketball Radiolive from Le Grand Café Centro.
