The Joventut he has the playoff within reach but this day he will not be able to guarantee it mathematically yet. I needed to win in Malaga to the Unicaja to have options of it but ended up yielding (102-93) in a spectacular and dramatic match decided by Darius
Brizuela, escort of the Andalusian team, in extra time.
The ‘Basque Mamba‘He converted 8 of his 30 points in additional time, settling a spectacular scoring duel with the offensive leader of Joventut, Baby
Dimitrijevic, who finished with 27 points in one of the best performances of his career.
The malagueños continue like this with aspirations to finish in the top eight in a close battle with Manresa Y Gran canaria, other serious contenders for that eighth place.
The level of consistency of the Unicaja, in defense and attack, was revealed during 35 minutes in which he dominated with advantages of up to 16 points to a Joventut who was on a roll after the last victory but was erratic in the outside shot this time and without confidence.
The Andalusians, however, did not know how to close that domain and conceded a 9-25 partial in the final stretch that resurrected La Penya. Dimitrijevic, with baskets of all kinds, was the architect of this spectacular reaction, supported Fortune in more sacrificial tasks. With this, the Badaloneses went from giving up by 13 (71-58) to sending by four (80-84) already in the last minute. Two actions by Brizuela in attack led to the tie, which would not have come had he scored Dimitrijevic two decisive free throws with 21.9 seconds left.
In the extra time Unicaja He put the direct with three initial possessions settled with three points thanks to the success of Deon Thomas and Brizuela himself. Dimitrijevic He could not participate in that final stretch after receiving a strong blow to the knee that knocked him out. Without him, the Joventut ran short of resources to respond to the success of a Unicaja resurfaced.
Data sheet
102 – Unicaja (23 + 21 + 25 + 15 + 18): Thompson (12), Fernández (15), Brizuela (30), Waczynski (8) and Guerrero (4) – starting five- Díaz (2), Alonso ( 2), Thomas (6), Abromaitis (9), Tamba (0) and Bouteille (14).
93 – Joventut Badalona (18 + 20 + 15 + 31 + 9): Ribas (10), Morgan (12), Ventura (5), Bassas (10) and Tomic (23) – starting five – Dimitrijevic (27), Dawson (2), Brodziansky (22), Birgande (2) and Parra (0).
Referees: Emilio Pérez, Martín Caballero and Vicente Martínez. They eliminated Díaz and Birgander for fouls
Incidents: Match corresponding to matchday 35 played behind closed doors at the José María Martín Carpena Sports Palace in Málaga