By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The first game of Day 3 in the Spanish ACB League was decided in the very last second by a wonderfully drawn play. Or a really bad defense, take your pick.
UCAM Murcia – Iberostar Tenerife 82 – 84
With two seconds remaining in the clock and the game tied at 82, Tenerife pulled off a perfect play to beat Murcia.
Marcelinho Huertas sent a long inbound pass to Giorgi Shermadini at the low post and then the Georgian center fed Sasu Salin for the easy, game-winning layup. Murcia coach Sito Alonso was probably far from happy with his players’ lack of defense and the fact that the team blew a 14-point lead in the last three minutes.
Salin finished with 20 points while Bruno Fitipaldo had 18 points and six assists. Shermadini added 14 points of his own for Tenerife that is now preparing for the Basketball Champions League Final Eight.
Conner Frankamp (20 points) and Jordan Davis (16 points) stood out from Murcia.
Estudiantes – Baskonia 84 – 86
Pierria Henry helped resolve yet another close affair for Baskonia. While he dished the assist for the game-winner vs. Valencia, this time he was the one to score the decisive bucket in Baskonia’s 86 – 84 victory over Estudiantes on the road.
? Pierria Henry y la canasta que le ha dado el triunfo al TD Systems @Baskonia #LigaEndesa #NoEsNormal
? vía @MovistarBasket pic.twitter.com/DsCthMrsgn— Liga Endesa (@ACBCOM) September 26, 2020
It was just his sixth point in the game but he made sure his teammates would make shots by serving them with nine assists. Rokas Giedraitis (22 points), Tonye Jekiri (20 points, eight rebounds), Alec Peters (15 points) led Baskonia’s offense.
Estudiantes’ John Roberson had a fantastic fourth quarter during which he scored 18 out of his 26 points, including the game-tying triples.
FC Barcelona – RETAbet Bilbao 82-64
Barca upped its ACB record to 3-0 beating Bilbao in early Sunday action.
Back on the court after a lengthy injury hiatus, Cory Higgins went for 12 points behind 3/3 beyond the arc. Adam Hanga scored 13 points of his own.
Jaylon Brown pulled in 15 points in a losing effort.
MoraBanc Andorra – Unicaja Malaga 78-81
A late 6-0 run pushed mostly trailing Unicaja Malaga to the road victory versus MoraBanc Andorra. Francis Alonso hit a couple of threes and ten out his 18 points in the key final quarter.
Dario Brizuela poured a game-high 20 points. The 2003-born Congolese center Yannick Nzosa logged ten points, three rebounds and two blocks in his 18-minute-long debut, becoming only the third player to reach ten points in a Spanish League game at 16 years old – after Ricky Rubio and Luka Dncic.
? ¡QUÉ DEBUT, @yannick_nzosa!
?puntos
3⃣rebotes
2⃣tapones
1⃣4⃣valoración
? 2º jugador + joven en debutar en el @unicajaCB, con 16 años y 10 meses (supera a @Dsabonis11)
? Solo @rickyrubio9 y @luka7doncic alcanzaron la decena de puntos con 16 años en @ACBCOM ?? @movistar_es pic.twitter.com/XXAQAdYgUi— UnicajaCB (@unicajaCB) September 27, 2020
The hosts dropped a double-digit lead despite Clevin Hannah knocking in 19 points.
Gipuzkoa – San Pablo Burgos 77-90
Thad McFadden led the way for Burgos with 22 points on 6-10 from deep while Ken Horton added 17 and Jasiel Rivero 16 points.
On the other side, Jaime Echenique scored 18 in addition to Johnny Dee and William Magarity’s 14 points each.
Obradoiro – Real Betis 87-80
Laurynas Birutis logged 17 points and eight rebounds for Obradoiro while Pepe Pozas scored 14 and Laurynas Beliauskas 13 points.
For Betis, Ryan Harrow was on fire with 23 points while Nick Kay helped with 13 and James Feldeine with 12 points.
Joventut – Real Madrid 64-87
Real Madrid dominated Joventut through the first three quarters, allowing them a total of only 35 points, as they cruise to their third win this season in Spain.
Nicolas Laprovittola led the ‘Whites’ with 22 points followed by Fabien Causeur with 12. Facundo Campazzo, Gabriel Deck and Walter Tavares scored ten points each.
For Joventut, Xabier López-Arostegui was the only double-digit scorer with 12 points. Vladimir Brodziansky scored nine and Ante Tomic eight points.
Zaragoza – Gran Canaria 88-71
Dylan Ennis banked 22 and DJ Seeley 19 points as Zaragoza routed Gran Canaria. Tryggvi Hlinason added 16 and Nicolas Brussino 15 points.
For GranCa, Amedeo Della Valle scored 14 and Matt Costello 13 points. Beka Burjanadze logged 11 points and ten rebounds.
Manresa – Valencia 74-82
Valencia logged another win, led by Bojan Dubljevic with 18 points while Fernando San Emeterio had 12 and Joan Sastre 11 points.
On the opposing side, Eulis Baez scored 19 while Scott Eatherton had 14 and Juan Pablo Vaulet 12 points.