Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejeros faced the last away game of the first phase of the competition on Saturday, and it was quite an odyssey to get to Cuenca due to the current air connections due to the pandemic. A long trip that took its toll on the legs of the Lanzarote players, suffering a defeat against Globalcaja Quintanar.
The Lanzarote team arrived at the match tremendously tired, although they came out to show their face from the beginning. The oranges took the lead on the scoreboard at the start of the match with a 2-5, but it was just a beautiful mirage that the Cuenca team took care of breaking after a 12-1 run, which brought them back to reality. With heavy legs, lacking ideas and aim, the peninsular team was opening a gap on the scoreboard, without giving options, concluding the first quarter 27 to 14.
Iván Fernández intensified the defensive work in the second quarter and Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejeros improved in that facet, although with significant shortcomings in scoring, also victims of the strong local defense. With much sacrifice, a difference of 13 to 15 points was maintained against the insular interests, which increased to 18 in the last bars of the first half, concluding 39 to 21.
Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejeros failed to stay in the game in any way. The outside shots did not go in and the inside game did not work, often encountering a block that accentuated the physical and moral fatigue. However, they had small reactions that seemed to make the miracle of getting into the fight for the game a reality, leading the local bench to ask for a time out. The visitor also did so in the last bars of the quarter, to give his players a break and look for a last exhalation and reduce the differences definitively. They succeeded, in part, as one point was subtracted from the advantage, concluding the quarter 60 to 43.
In the last matches, the last quarter had been fatal for the interests of Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejeros, but there was hope that it would be the other way around in this match. However, Globalcaja did not give them a chance and with a very successful Jordi Bergada with 30 points, thanks in part to 6 three-pointers; and Artem Yailo, with 18, killed the match. Paulo Rodríguez, who was returning to what was his home until a few months ago, tried to reduce the difference and in fact had a great performance with 18 points and 14 of valuation, not being enough. The players of the peninsular team were fresher, they seemed to play at a different speed and closed the match with a score of 92 to 61.
After the match, Alejandro García had to be accompanied to a medical center in Valencia, as he received a blow to the nose in the last seconds of the match, possibly having a broken nasal septum. The medical tests that will be performed will reveal the real extent of the injury.
Technical Sheet
Globalcaja Quintanar (92): David Champgnie (14), José Carrasco (6), Jordi Bergada (30), Jhan Pool (7) and Artem Yailo (18). Also played Sebastian Kegel (4), Alasan Mbowe, Alberto Díaz (8) and Antonio Guerrero (5).
Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejeros (61): Cándido Matoso (7), Chike Augustine (11), Víctor de Haro (6), Agustín Lecona (3) and Paulo Rodríguez (18). Also played Alejandro García (3), Richard Nguema (1), Christian Rodríguez (4), Axel Bello (4) and Yeremi Miranda (4).
Referees: Álvaro Martínez de Marcos and Alejandro José Rubio Avilés. Without eliminated
Partial scores each quarter: 27-14 / 39-21 (break) 60-43 / 92-61 (final)
Incidents: Ángel Lancho Municipal Pavilion. Match corresponding to the 17th day of group B-A of the EBA League.
