Two teams faced each other and will fight for the play off, for being seeded and, later, for the title. Baskonia faced the match with 16 wins and the Taronja, with 18. Matt Costello was absent from the locals and Klemen Prepelic, from Valencia. Raieste and Baldwin are now recovered, as are Van Rossom and Dimitrijevic. Little public in the stands because Easter takes its toll on attendance. Monday is a holiday in the Basque Country and schools are off for the entire Easter Week.
Valencia Basket was superior in the first quarter (4-8 after a triple by Mike Tobey). At 6-13, Neven Spahija was forced to call the first timeout. Halfway through the first game, 4 points from Fontecchio and 2 from Enoch, very little offensive production. The taronja, however, saw hoops with Tobey, Hanlan and Rivero. Better in defense, attentive in passing lanes, rebounding in key moments and with better shooting percentages. At the end of the first act, 11-20.
The dynamics did not change much at the start of the second quarter (14-34, min. 14). Ridiculous losses of those of Spahija and denial facing the opposite basket. Continuous change of players but it did not occur with the key. Valencia, with very good defensive and offensive dynamics, was stretching the rubber. Part of the public began to whistle for the local team but there are players with character, such as captain Peters, who helped reduce the differences gradually. By then, with 10 points, the top scorer was already Dubljevic. At rest, 34-45.
But, incomprehensibly, the Levantines fell asleep (51-56, min. 28). There was a block from Baldwin on Dubljevic and a triple from Marinkovic that put the Buesa Arena on its feet. The local team defended, stole, dominated the rebound in their basket and finally put their shots in the game. A distant triple by Fontecchio at the buzzer put the icing on the fourth round.
From winning by twenty points to facing the last ten minutes two points down. Penarroya he didn’t believe it. Spadaughter He required to maintain that tone to continue with options to beat a direct rival.
The Bitci not only traced its rival but also began to open a gap and got four up. Was a technique to Dubljevicwho requested a basket considering that the stopper he received was after the touch of the board. After a long moment of anxiety, López-Aróstegui hooked his team to the game and the Valencian team closed the task with some solvency (71-76, min. 38). The taronja took a good part of the afternoon but woke up on time.
RESUME
71 – Bitci Baskonia (11+23+24+13): Baldwin IV (15), Giedraitis (12), Fontecchio (12), Peters (13) and Enoch (11) -initial five- Raieste (-), Marinkovic (3), Granger (3), Sedekerskis (2) and Kurucs (-).
78 – Valencia Basketball (20+25+11+22): Hermannsson (15), Hanlan (5), Labeyrie (3), Rivero (12) and Tobey (7) -starting five- Puerto (2), Claver (-), Pradilla (3), López-Arostegui (20) , Van Rossom (-) and Dubljevic (11).
referees: Pérez Pizarro, Martínez and Olivares. Enoch was eliminated due to personal fouls. They pointed out technique to Dubljevic (min.34).
Incidents: match corresponding to the twenty-ninth day of the regular phase of the Endesa League played at the Fernando Buesa in Vitoria before 5,706 spectators.