Another exciting week of Liga Endesa action is behind us, and as we have reached about a halfway of the season, some big games and upsets happened this week.
The biggest surprise of the week has to be Murcia’s win over Real Madrid 86-79. It appeared that in the third quarter that Real had this game firmly under control after a triple from K.C. Rivers put Real up by 12 with three minutes left in the third.
However, Murcia responded quickly, and the game was tied after Carlos Cabezas nailed a buzzer beating 2-pointer to end a quarter.
It was a close game in the fourth quarter until Scott Bamforth put the final nail in the coffin with a triple that put Murcia up by 8 with three minutes left.
J.A. Antelo led Murcia with 15 points, and Rudy Fernandez had 13 for the losing side. This loss puts Unicaja alone at the top of the league, as Real drops to 21-5.
Valencia avenged their big loss to Barcelona earlier in the season with the surprising crushing of Catalans 93-73.
The story of this game was the return of Justin Doellman to the place he played from 2012 to 2014. Valencia fans greeted him warmly with the MVP chants.
Game itself was a sew-saw battle until the fourth quarter when Krešimir Lončar gave Valencia a double digit lead, but also suffered a dislocated finger shortly after. Bojan Dubljević put Barcelona’s hopes to sleep with a triple in the final quarter that put Valencia up 9 with 5 minutes to go, and the home side never looked back winning in the end by 20.
Pau Ribas was terrific for Valencia with 18 points (5/5 threes) and 6 assists. DeShaun Thomas led Barcelona with 12.
Elsewhere, Zaragoza achieved a huge win for their playoff hopes as they defeated Bilbao on their home floor 76-64.
It was a very ugly game in the first half, as both teams struggled shooting the basketball. Luckily, the action picked up in the second half as Zaragoza got their first big lead in the game after Chris Goulding’s four point play which put the home side up 9. Pere Tomas sealed the game for Zaragoza with a triple to put his team up 12 with 5 minutes left. Bilbao never got close after that.
Tomas was the best player for Zaragoza in this one with 17 points. Dairis Bertans led the losing side with 15.
Manresa pulled out a big win in their relegation zone battle, as they won in Gran Canaria 81-75. It was a huge fourth quarter from Manresa that decided this one, as they won that quarter by 14.
Isaac Fotu led the visitors with 14, and DeJuan Summers and Kyle Kuric both had 17 for the Canarians.
Elsewhere around the league Rio Natura won in Fuenlabrada. Fuenlabrada now holds the bottom of the table after Manresa’s win. MoraBanc Andorra won surprisingly easy in Badalona, as they beat Joventut 82-67. Laboral Kutxa Baskonia crushed Gipuzkoa 66-95. Unicaja did beat Tenerife 71-89 giving them a first place of the table after Real’s loss and Sevilla achieved an important 74-65 win in their relegation zone battle over Estudiantes.