Granada, Feb 17 (EFE).- Real Madrid fulfilled the planned script this Thursday by qualifying for the semifinals of the Copa del Rey de Granada after overcoming, in a tough battle, the resistance of a brave Río Breogán who fought hard, won in three quarters and took him to the limit, but he missed the points of his two stars, Dzanan Musa and Bell-Haynes, well defended from start to finish by a white team that Lenovo Tenerife is already waiting for (73- 67).
The French Guerschon Yabusele, with 17 points and 4/5 triples and the double figures of Walter Tavares (11 and 11 rebounds) and Thomas Heurtel (12 and 10 assists) allowed Pablo’s players to overcome the resistance of one of the revelations de la Liga, who left a great image on his return to the KO tournament.
Yabusele made his Cup debut with the first five points for his team, while Musa, another sensation in the League, opened the Galician scoreboard with a triple in his first action after getting rid of Alberto Abalde’s sticky marking. From the first minute sparks flew between the two and Pablo Laso’s slogan was clear: stop the Bosnian as it was.
Real Madrid dominated a willing opponent without excessive stress but who seemed to suffer from the nerves of his debut in his second cup participation and after 32 years of waiting. He accumulated errors in the shot and suffered before the potential of the leader of the League, well directed by another Frenchman, Thomas Heurtel.
Yabusele’s second triple set off the first alarms in a Breogán that was 13 down at the first change and that only had three points in six minutes, a complete recklessness against the king of Cups. The scoring rhythm of one and the other was very different and Real Madrid seemed to be going for the win from the start, with all their men contributing in attack.
Hanga took over from Abalde and stuck to Musa, who struggled to receive balls and find comfortable shots, while in the other area Yabusele -the main protagonist of the first act with eleven points- continued to do his thing and hit the Galician illusion with his third triple, which Sergio Llull imitated on the next play to raise the score to 27-16 with which he finished a clear white first quarter.
As the perimeter continued to work for them, Real Madrid maintained a great scoring pace. The players trained by the Croatian Veljko Mrsic did not give up and squeezed every attack to avoid greater evils, but in defense they could not contain the potential of an opponent eager to win the Cup to put behind their poor run of play and results.
After three minutes of respite, Musa returned to the track when his team lost by ten points, but the star of the Lugo team could not detach himself from his defenders, who stopped him based on fouls, help and blocks and managed to despair over and over again .
As the minutes went by, the attacks from one side to the other became bogged down, so Real Madrid’s advantage remained around ten points until the break with a 41-31 that kept Breogan alive who knew how to supply Musa’s little contribution through fighting.
Yabusele’s success (14 points), Tavares’ rebounds (7), Heurtel’s assists (8) and Hanga and Abalde’s defenses favored Pablo Laso’s men in the first half, although Breogan, who won the second act, continued with options waiting for the awakening of its two stars, who only added eight points after twenty minutes of struggle.
The exchange of blows continued after passing through changing rooms. Yabusele continued to his own and added his fourth triple and Abalde hit his second while in the other basket the Slovenian center Rahid Mahalbasic contributed points and rebounds and, after many minutes, Musa managed to free himself from his mark and hit from the goal to go down to nine the handicap.
As the minutes passed, Galician hopes evaporated. They couldn’t find their way to the rim and saw how the gap widened at a worrying rate and for the first time reached fifteen points after a shot by Sergio Llull (56-41, min 18).
However, a final rush in that quarter, with a partial in favor of 1-9, allowed Río Breogán to reach the last ten minutes alive (57-50, min 30).
The Galician dream won the whole with its great start to the final chapter. Jordan Sakho left the mattress at five points as soon as the act began and Lukovic dropped him to just two from the perimeter with eight minutes to go. Real Madrid was stuck and accumulated four and a half minutes without a basket in play until William-Goss, unprecedented until then, gave his team air with a triple in the last second of possession.
Due to a lack of success, the Whites pressed their defense to the limit, which kept them ahead, but the minutes kept passing and they couldn’t get away, forcing Pablo Laso to stop the game to prepare the final offensive (62-60, min 36).
In the end, the experience of the Madrid team in this type of tournament allowed them to seal a victory that was more fought than expected. Lenovo Tenerife awaits him in the semifinals on Saturday, while Río Breogán returns to Lugo with his head held high after standing up to a rival he pushed to the limit.
– Data sheet:
73 – Real Madrid (27+14+16+16): Heurtel (12), Abalde (11), Causeur (6), Yabusele (17) and Tavares (11) -starting five-, Williams-Goss (3), Hanga (5), Poirier (2), Llull (2) and Thompkins (-).
67 – Río Breogán (16+15+19+17): Bell Haynes (7), Musa (13), Lukovic (12), Sergi Quintela (2), Jankovic (-) and Mahalbasic (16), -starting quintet- Kacinas (-), Kalinoski (5), Sakho (8, , Erik Quintela (-), Iván Cruz (3).
Referees: Daniel Hierrezuelo, Carlos Peruga and Jordi Aliaga. They eliminated Alberto Abalde due to fouls.
Incidents: Second round of the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey de Granada basketball, played at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes before 6,319 spectators, 75 percent of the permitted capacity.
Anthony Soto
(c) EFE Agency