Real Madrid can handle La Fonteta in Europe
Victory for the meringues by 73-76 to maintain their undefeated leadership
MADRID, 14 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid won this Tuesday by a tight 73-76 in their visit to Valencia Basket, with an outstanding performance by the Argentine forward Gabriel Deck during matchday 8 of the Regular Phase of the Euroleague, whose leadership remains in the hands of the merengue team with full of triumphs.
The Fuente de San Luis Pavilion experienced a great duel between two of the best teams in the tournament. The Valencians (5-2 balance) looked undefeated at home and the Madrid team arrived undefeated after six games (6-0), with a matchday still pending against Maccabi Tel Aviv.
And Brandon Davies understood that context as an ideal setting on which to shine. The Ugandan center scored 18 points, with 6/6 in shots from two and 2/3 in triples; He put a block and achieved 18 rating credits in a first quarter to score (26-24), but in which Real Madrid stayed close thanks to the push of Gaby Deck.
But the one from Colonia Dora was not alone, as his compatriot Facundo Campazzo also took the reins of the white attack, while the Cape Verdean Walter Tavares and the Frenchman Guerschon Yabusele stood out in the ‘painting’. The usual Real Madrid cast was missing, however, a little more gunpowder from other ‘sacred cows’.
Sergio Rodríguez’s many minutes on the court did not translate into points, and in the same way Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernández were failing in the outside shot. Croatian forward Mario Hezonja appeared, a luxury secondary in Chus Mateo’s plans, to mitigate the attacks of the ‘taronja’ team before the break (49-43).
DAVIES AND JONES ALMOST COME BACK
On the local side, point guard Chris Jones from the outside and power forward Damien Inglis on the inside had taken over from Davies in scoring. However, Real Madrid recovered well upon returning to the locker room, thanks to a cumulative partial of 13-20 that embittered Valencia Basket and a large part of La Fonteta.
But Davies woke up in time to skillfully combine his attacks with Jones, in a final quarter where the local team came back from 62-67 to 68-67 in a flash. Deck emerged again with key shots, Hezonja with a saving triple (68-70) and Campazzo in the final moments with free throws that showed his coolness in hot moments.
Jones had a shot in his hands to force overtime with 30 seconds left, but he missed and then Davies, despite having captured the rebound, took a providential block from Tavares while the referees did not see a foul. Thus, Mateo’s pupils certified his seventh victory and cut off an opponent who sold his skin dearly.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: VALENCIA BASKET, 73 – REAL MADRID, 76 (49-43, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
VALENCIA BASKET: Jones (12), López-Arostegui (4), Claver (-), Inglis (12) and Davies (22) –starting quintet–; Robertson (-), Ojeleye (13), Reuvers (2), Touré (4), Jovic (4), Puerto (-) and Pradilla (-).
REAL MADRID: Campazzo (15), Deck (17), Musa (10), Yabusele (5) and Tavares (6) — the starting quintet –; Poirier (-), Hezonja (12), S. Rodriguez (-), Rudy Fernandez (6), Llull (5), Causeur (-) and Abalde (-).
–PARTIALS: 26-24, 23-19, 13-20 and 11-13.
–REFEREES: Radovic, Laurinavicius and Halliko. No eliminated.
–PAVILLION: San Luis Fountain.