By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid is ready to defend its Liga Endes crown. By tripling their wins in the semifinals against Valencia, with a 82 – 80 victory, the Madridistas became the first team to advance to the series for the championship title.
After a first half in which Real’s sublime shooting gave them the upper hand, Valencia reacted in the third period to keep its opponents at only 9 points and make it a close game. During the crunch time of the last minutes, Pablo Laso’s players were the ones to gain a small, albeit precious advantage thanks to key buckets by Sergio Llull and Gustavo Ayon.
With the score 73 – 76 and only seconds to go the “free-throws” rodeo began, with Real Madrid being perfect, preserving its lead until the final buzzer.
Jaycee Carroll and Sergio Llull scored 17 and 16 points respectively, while Justin Hamilton had a brilliant game of 23 points and 10 rebounds, as Valencia competed its season with a strong fight against a powerful adversary.