Photos: Sergio Betancort
An even match was experienced on Saturday night at the Lanzarote Sports City between Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero and Real Madrid. The Madrid team did not show the fatigue of having played the previous night against CB Gran Canaria, and it was in the last quarter when they began to tip the balance in their favor. Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero kept the match balanced when they were able to be intense in the defensive game.
The match began with the dominance of Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero, managing to tie down the potential that Real Madrid is presumed to have. The key was the strong defense exerted by the locals, although on the other hand the Lanzarote players were accumulating personal fouls. Real Madrid was always trailing on the scoreboard in this first quarter, with Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero having leads of six points. With the score of 25-23, the first ten minutes of the match came to an end.
The rotations and the effort made in the first quarter diminished the locals in the second quarter, who continued to take the initiative on the scoreboard until the last stages of the period. The inside game of Real Madrid, especially of Usman Garuba, a player who finished the game with 20 points, began to punish the defense of Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero. This is how the Madrid team began to have the first lead in their favor, reaching halftime with the score of 44-47.
Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero tightened up again in defense in the first minutes of the second half, preventing Real Madrid from making a fluid game on the court. The defense of Samuel Sosa's team was so intense that on several occasions Real Madrid exhausted the 24 seconds of possession without being able to shoot at the basket. Charles Yassi and Jarad Scott were definitively charged with personal fouls, and the coach reserved them for the important minutes of the match. With the score tied at 60, the third quarter came to an end.
With everything to be decided, Real Madrid had an explosive start to the period, breaking the tie on the scoreboard and tipping the balance in their favor. The creation game of Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero stalled. Nor did one of the team's weapons, such as the outside shot, end up working, ending the match with a balance of 5 out of 21 in three-pointers. The defensive facet of the "oranges" continued to be solid, but not enough to stop the quality of Real Madrid.
With the score of 70-81, the match came to an end, with Aloe Plus Lanzarote adding the second consecutive defeat against the teams that occupy the top of the standings. The Lanzarote team continues to occupy the tenth place in the standings with a balance of seven wins and three ahead of the relegation zone. Next week, Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero travels to Madrid to face Eurocolegio Casvi.
Technical Sheet
Aloe Plus Lanzarote Conejero (70): Raúl Rodríguez (12), Jerell Ellis (10), Javi Herrero (23), Andrej Tomic (8) and Jarad Scott (12) -starting five- Cécimo Armas (5) and Charles Yassi (0)
Real Madrid (81): Maximiliano Sole (2), Usman Garuba (20), Mario Nakic (17), Jan Patrick Pantzar (2) and Amar Sylla (4) -starting five- Diego de Bla (3), Carlos Unanue (0), Ziga Samar (4), Golden Dike (9), Kareem Queeley (8), Paulino Javier Salson (10), Héctor Jiménez (2)
Partial scores: 25-23, 44-47 (halftime) 60-60, 70-81 (final)
Referees: Marcos Silva González and Gonzalo Haro Domínguez. No one eliminated
Incidents: Lanzarote Sports City Pavilion, about 300 spectators. Match corresponding to the 17th round of Group B of the EBA Basketball League.