- The base, with 19 points, is crucial in the last quarter of the game
Sergio Llull regained his best version at the premiere of Real Madrid at the Copa del Rey in Malaga and, with his success in the last quarter, shattered the illusions of a RETAbet Bilbao Basket that fought big and left a great image on his return to the competition (93-83).
After three equalized quarters, the Balearic base returned in a big way, with twelve points in the last act, including three triples that arrived when his team needed it most and that ended many minutes of Numantine resistance from the players trained by Alex Mumbrú.
From the initial jump, two battles monopolized all the prominence. Edy Tavares and Ondrej Balvin fought for each ball in the paint while Anthony Randolph and Jonathan Rouselle were challenged in a scoring duel that maintained equality.
The Cape Verdean giant ended up imposing its wingspan and, with twelve points and fourteen rebounds, contributed decisively to the final triumph, although Balvin was not far behind and also ended up with double figures (12 + 12).
There was neither a clear dominator in the game nor on the scoreboard. Each basket was answered immediately and a final slap of Tavares to a launch of Llull decayed the balance in favor of Pablo Laso's after about ten first minutes of alternatives and intrigue (23-21).
While the Argentine Gabriel Deck dried Axel Rouselle and contributed points, Llull and Fabien Causeur began to produce, but in front they had a group that fought each action and remained very alive in the tie.
The break came after sixteen changes of leadership and eight draws and with advantages that did not exceed six points, which left the game in a fist after twenty intense minutes of good basketball (50-47, min 20).
a small stretch of Madrid put him seven up for the first time three minutes after the restart, although it was a mirage because, with a couple of flashes, the players of Álex Mumbrú went back to shooting.
The Argentine connection Campazzo-Deck monopolized the leading role in attack and, little by little, was consolidating a comfortable mattress that tasted like glory after more than twenty minutes of siege from Bilbao (64-55, min 25).
Boutelle was unable to detach himself from Deck's shadow and did not have his best afternoon and his teammates began to fail forces as the minutes passed. To make matters worse, Campazzo and Deck were still doing theirs and, after a 13-0 run, the game began to take on Madrid.
The last ten minutes came with a rent of ten punctual favor of the men of Pablo Laso (73-63). When seen against the ropes, the RETAbet put one more march to his game and was cutting back to five again, which re-ignited the Martin Carpena.
Sergio Llull extinguished the euphoria with a triple challenger from the corner, which was followed shortly after another front with additional shot included that he celebrated as in the great moments. The Balearic returned by its fueros and a third success of his from the perimeter ended up breaking the Bilbao resistance.
The Basque team kept trying and was able to get to five again one minute from the end, but a failure under Rafa Martínez's basket ended the forces of a group that fought until the end and ended up succumbing to the renewed strength of a reborn Llull.
– Data sheet:
93 – Real Madrid (23 + 27 + 23 + 20): Campazzo (13), Carroll (7), Deck (16), Randolph (9) and Tavares (12) – titular quintet – Causeur (10), Fernández (3), Llull (19), Mickey (2) and Taylor ( two).
83 – RETAbet Bilbao Basket (21 + 26 + 16 + 20): Martínez (7), Rouselle (16), Bouteille (13), Sulejmanovic (8) and Balvin (12) – initial five – Rodriguez (7), Schreiner (-), Rigo (-), Cruz (-), Lammers ( 7) Tyler Haws (-) and Kulboka (13)
Referees: Carlos Peruga, Fernando Calatrava and Juan de Dios Oyón. Without eliminated.
Incidents: Second match of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey played at Martín Carpena in Malaga before 10,070 spectators.