MoraBanc Andorra suffered a hard-fought victory today, against Alicante (74-59). The tricolors take the sting out of the defeat in the first round at the Alicante track, and although at some point the ghosts of the last defeat at home have appeared, with a triple the Lezkano managed to scare them away. Now yes, the team, in a week’s time, at the Poliesportiu, will have the first opportunity to proclaim themselves league champions and achieve direct promotion to the ACB league, as long as they win against Ourense.
The first quarter was marked by the constant exchanges of baskets. Felipe dos Anjos, who has already become the flagship of the team, received a very tough defense and great pressure from the visitors, who at no time allowed him to be comfortable on the floor. However, the rest of the team was working pretty well. Maric, Dee and Rubio kept the team in the game after the first stretches for the visitors, who were ahead for a large part of the first half. In the end, however, the score was reversed, 21-19, to put MoraBanc ahead. A situation, that of controlling the scoreboard, that would not change in the rest of the match.
MoraBanc broke the game in the final stretch of the second period, where it achieved, for the first time, a double-digit lead. An imperial Mihajlo Andric, who nailed three triples in a row, well seconded by Rafa Luz, omnipresent in both baskets, allowed the tricolors to go to the end of the first half with a score of 42-28. In addition, and thanks to a great defense in the second ten minutes of the game, Lezkano’s team left Lucentum with only 9 points.
The start of the third quarter was quite similar to the first, in which the two teams exchanged baskets and the difference remained stable above 10 points. However, the tricolors did not manage to close the defensive rebound well, allowing many second options to the Alicante players. When five minutes had been played, Juan Rubio nailed a stratospheric triple to place a new maximum advantage of 16 points (55-39). To alleviate the bleeding of rebounds, Lezkano has changed the entire interior game, giving entry to Maric and Llovet. Precisely, two free throws by the pivot have increased the difference to 18 points. However, Alicante reacted and brought the match back to 12 points at the end of the quarter. The tricolor have accused, excessively,
In the first action, the visitors have scored to be at 10; in the replay, Luz was unable to score and a certain feeling of nerves, remembering the last match at home, against Almansa, began to hover over the Poliesportiu. A free kick at 8:40 put Lucentum up nine. In attack, the team was still completely collapsed. First Dee and then Luz have scored single possessions, while the whites were remaining point by point from the free kick zone. Coleby, with a fade, has put the match at six points. The tricolors had failed to score in the first two minutes of play and had conceded a 13-0 deficit. Finally, Johnny Dee broke the bad momentum to make it 60-52.
Three points scored by Andric and Borg were replicated with a triple shot and the match entered the last five minutes at six points (63-57). But, at last, Johnny Dee appeared and nailed a three-pointer from nine meters to calm the spirits of the visitors. MoraBanc’s 1 has started to offer his best version by stealing the ball in the subsequent action. Losses and inaccuracies made the clock move forward until 3:30, where an action between Gatell and Arcos adjusted, once again, the score (66-59). Today, however, was Juan Rubio’s day. When he needed it the most, in the 7th he took a triple from the chest, to once again leave the match at 10 points. Andric has joined the festival of triples to scare away any ghosts. A personal attack, on Speight, has closed the game in 74-59. Penultimate step to secure title.