This week in Spain, both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona Regal won easy games on the road. Cajasol Seville breathes after winning a thriller and two greek Gods help Uxue Bilbao to stay on the top positions.
Unicaja finally won on the road again 84-89. Its victim was Blancos de Rueda Valladolid. Vázquez and Urtasun led the visiting team with 16 points each, while Nacho Martín scored 24 points in a losing effort.
Uxue Bilbao had no mercy of its neighbour Lagun Aro GBC and won 91-72. Despite the score, it was not until the last five minutes of the game when Katsikari’s players took a nice lead. Zisis played his best game since his arrival to Bilbao, and Vasileiadis continued to kill from behind the arc. Qyntel Woods scored 19 points, but this is not the kind of game he has to play well.
In Zaragoza, Pedro Llompart and Sam Van Rossom, two of the best point guards in the league, led the home team to beat Valencia Basket 76-62. Nobody in the frontcourt could answer to Henk Norel, who is proving to be the best young center in the league so far alongside Tomic. Doellman and Ribas netted 15 points each for the visiting team.
Andres Nocioni is back in town. After some years in the NBA, the Argentinean small forward went back to Vitoria looking for the player he used to be. And he certainly did it. The same is happening to Maciej Lampe. Thanks to them, their team Caja Laboral edged a combative Herbalife Gran Canaria. Neither Ryan Toolson nor Spencer Nelson could help the local team from winning 85-74.
Easy win for FC Barcelona Regal, which ended UCAM Murcia’s 3-game winning streak. Ante Tomic inside and Brad Oleson from the outside led the visiting team and kept the second place in the standings after winning 62-79. Antelo continues to develop his game after some years in lower divisions being one of the top prospects in Spain. He scored 15 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
A brilliant last quarter by Roderick Blankey gave Cajasol its eighth win in the league after overcoming Asefa Estudiantes 86-78. John Holland scored 21 points, only one less than Kyle Kuric, who netted everything he could to diminish English’s absence in the visiting team, but it was not enough. Ondrej Balvin played hard inside once again. This boy is right now the hidden gem in the league. Born in 1992, he is becoming more mature after every game, to the point that he could be one of the best centers in Europe within a couple of years. Aíto García Reneses is working really well with him.
FIACT Joventut won a thriller in Manresa thanks mainly to the good job of Tony Gaffney. Troy DeVries had a great game netting 34 points for Assignia Manresa to be the MVP of the week in Spain, but it was not enough. The home team lost 88-92. We have to mention an unbelievable fact that happened to Manresa this week. On Friday’s training, both Javi Rodríguez and Charles Ramdsell suffered a Torn ACL and will be sidelined for at least next 6 months. Bad luck for Manresa, which has only won 4 games so far and will have to deal with this big problem until the end of the season.
Ricardo Úriz, veteran Spanish point guard, led CB Canarias to defeat Blusens Monbus 84-77. Blagota Sekulic scored 17 points overcoming Levon Kendall’s losing effort. The yellow team got its sixth straight home win, allowing them to dream with being next year again in the league. On the other hand, the visiting team is now 2 wins away from playoffs.
Real Madrid destroyed Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada on the road 65-88. James Feldeine was not enough to stop Sergio Llull and Nikola Mirotic. The Spanish powerhouse has only lost 1 game in the league so far, proving to be the main candidate to win the league if they keep their mind cold in hot games. Caja Laboral stays on the second place, 3 wins away from Real, while FC Barcelona Regal and Uxue Bilbao take the third and fourth positions in the standings. Asefa Estudiantes is the last team in playoffs positions with 12 wins. Bad times for Lagun Aro GBC and Assignia Manresa, which stay one more week at the bottom of the league, and they are running out of time…
Next week more!
