Bilbao Basket fell with a painful 90-72 In the FIBA Champions League against UCAM Murcia, the people from Bilbao could not do anything against the defensive intensity and the good attacking performance of Artem Pustovyi and Thad McFadden, with 40 points between them.
The match was started by UCAM CB with a very good defense and that made them lead 8-2 in four minutes, with six of their points coming from the personal line.
Bilbao reacted and came close with a three-pointer from Adam Smith (14-12), but Pustovyi, being effective in the rival area, fired again at his team, which closed the first quarter with a seven-point advantage (20-13). With 24-13 Jaume Ponsarnau called a timeout and his team sought to react with three pointers. Two of Lude Hakanson and Francis Alonso put the 30-22, but Sito Alonso’s team did not slacken and, with McFadden going into combustion, put the direct. Four triples in a row from the American guard with a Georgian passport determined that the rest would be reached with a +19 for those from the capital of Segura (48-29).
UCAM CB was being superior in everything against a direct rival in the Endesa League for accessing the qualifying rounds for the title -the Basques are eleventh and the Murcians twelfth, both with a baggage of 8-10- but in this European clash they did not offered much resistance.
Those of Ponsarnau, who in the state championship surpassed that of Sito, beating him 99-81, took advantage of the last quarter to slightly make up their extensive defeat and wipe out part of the disadvantage, which could be important for the pass to the quarterfinals. final, something that the first two classified in each group will achieve. In those 10 minutes the Biscayan team finally took a partial victory with the 16-25 that left the final result in 90-72.
Data sheet:
90 – UCAM Murcia Basketball Club (20+28+26+16): Trice (11), Jelínek (11), Rojas (-), Luther (6) and Diop (10) -starting five-, Bellas (-), Radovic (6), McFadden (17), Pustovyi (23), Sakho (-), Anderson (4) and Andronikashvili (2).
72 – Surne Bilbao Basket (13+16+18+25): Hakanson (6), Rabaseda (11), Smith (8), Andersson (8) and Withey (13) -starting five-, Radicevic (3), Álex Reyes (-), Francis Alonso (11), Kyser (8) , Sulejmanovic (4) and Ignacio Rosa (-).
Referees: Manuel Mazzoni, from Italy; Andris Aunkrogers, from Latvia; and Carsten Straube, from Germany. They eliminated the local Pustovyi (m.35) for five fouls.
Source: Eitb
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