Spain celebrates twice
The Spanish team wins the Netherlands with work in Huelva to celebrate their ticket to the World Cup
MADRID, 14 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish men’s basketball team has already guaranteed its presence to defend its world title in the World Cup in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia next year, a qualification that came before facing its match against the Netherlands on Monday at the Palacio de Deportes Carolina Marín de Huelva, also settled with a hard-fought 84-72 victory.
The world and European champion has already done her homework. After their great victory last Friday against Italy, they needed to win against an already eliminated rival who had lost all their games in this qualifying phase, but Georgia’s defeat against the Italians before their duel in front of their fans left them in a procedure, a word that the coach Sergio Scariolo does not like too much, who demanded a victory from his team and as brilliant as possible.
It was difficult for Spain to get it out, despite the final comfort of the marker. The visitors held out until the final quarter, where they already had to kneel against the higher level of intensity of the Spaniards and the goodbye to the aim from outside that had shone so much in the first half prevented them from surprising. In a game that left the international debuts of Eric Vila (8 points) and Pep Busquets (3), there was a choral game where Darío Brizuela’s 16 points stood out.
The game began with Spain trying to threaten soon to break the duel against an opponent who was not playing anything either. A triple, the third, from Brizuela made it 17-10 and encouraged Carolina Marín, but then came the ‘bombardment’ of Schaftenar that cooled everything.
The 4/4 of the Dutchman from the line of three gave life to his team and an equality that would not be broken until the break. The visitors, also dominating the rebound, came to take the lead with another three-pointer (Ververs) and without losing their success they managed to stretch a bit (25-29).
The European and world champion then reacted and a three-pointer from Yusta and six consecutive points from Vila, a three-pointer and a ‘2+1’, gave her the initiative again (34-29) with a 9-0 run. The rival also replied with another to take the lead again (36-42), but good actions by Jaime Fernández, with two triples, left everything even for the next 20 minutes (43-43).
The time in the locker room brought an improvement in the defensive intensity of the locals, which was reflected in the 29 points conceded despite losing the rebounding battle (25-31). Parra, with seven points, was the one who prompted a first threat, again answered by a Netherlands that was losing effectiveness from the triple (3/11 between the third and last quarter).
Despite this, the Dutch team arrived with all the options intact for the final quarter (61-59), although it ended up falling apart. Juan Núñez and Santi Yusta signed good minutes and the score shot up interestingly (68-59). The visitors gave their last blow (71-66) before Brizuela’s energy put an end to their resistance.
DATASHEET.
–RESULT: SPAIN, 84 – NETHERLANDS, 72 (43-43, at halftime).
–EQUIPMENT.
SPAIN: Díaz (8), Jaime Fernández (8), Salvó (3), Parra (10) and Sáiz (12) –starting five– Yusta (10), Brizuela (16), Sima (4), Alonso ( 2), Núñez (-), Busquets (3) and Vila (8).
PAÍSES BAJOS: Keye Van der Vuurst de Vries (12), Bouwknecht (5), Van Bree (8), Kuiper (2) y Kok (-) –quinteto inicial– Van Eyck (2), Ververs (9), Boyd Van der Vuurst de Vries (3), Brandwijk (8), Schaftenaar (19) and Kuta (4).
— PARTIALS: 21-21, 22-22, 18-16 and 23-13.
–REFEREES: Glisic, Vulic and Jurcevic. No deleted.
–PAVILION: Carolina Marín Sports Palace.
–TIME: 8:30 p.m./Teledeporte.