Bilbao Basket lost a final due to permanence against a direct rival, Movistar Estudiantes, by 95-89, in a match in which the Madrilenians took the initiative and the lead on the scoreboard but in which the Bilbaoans made them suffer until the last second.
Madrileños and Basques ran out of control. During the first five minutes the attacks were very short and the defenses barely made an appearance, 15-15 (min.5), with JJ Barea showing off an easy trigger and with Arnoldas Kulboka and John Jenkins giving him the reply.
But the key to the first quarter was the entry on the court by Víctor Arteaga, who scored 6 points in a row for the schoolboys and led the first solid advantage of the locals, 26-18 (m.9). The first act closed with 26-20.
Jaylon Brown entered like a motorcycle in the second quarter and the Biscayan team approached on the scoreboard, 28-26 (12), although Estudiantes continued with the inertia of their fast game and returned to take a certain distance on the scoreboard, 33 -27 (m.14.30).
The small streaks of both teams, caused by the opponent’s defensive errors and the speed of the game, favored the scoreboard to make the rubber, 33-31 (m.15.30), 37-31 a minute later and 37-36 seventy seconds more late.
At the break, almost total equality and 44-43 on the scoreboard, with Jenkins very successful in Bilbao and Arteaga in the premises.
The student exit after passing through the changing rooms was very good and in less than two minutes he got an 8-0, with 3s from Edgar Vicedo and Alec Brown, for a 52-43 (m.21.45).
The defenses, over that of Estudiantes, took a step forward and the recoveries of the ball and the counters of Aleksa Avramovic and Vicedo extended the local advantage to 12 points, 61-49 (m.25), while Ludde Hakanson was the only one wise player in Bilbao.
The partial in these first five minutes of the third act was 22-10 (66-53), with a disheveled Estu in attack and a passive Bilbao and without finding solutions.
Jonathan Rousselle understood the bad situation of his team and took the scoring responsibility, getting the reaction and the distance to decrease drastically, 68-62 (m.28).
The third act ended with 74-69 and everything to be decided.
Alex Mumbrú’s players came out ready to fight for their luck and in less than a minute they breathed in the back of Estudiantes, 74-73 (m.31), but they failed to come back and the schoolboys again gave another little pull , 80-73 (m.32.30).
With Ondrej Balvin as the offensive protagonist under the ring, Bilbao once again presented its candidacy for victory, 82-81 (m.34.45).
Students held on to the smallest difference and a triple by John Robertson gave him air, 91-86, to face the last hundred seconds of the game.
A technique to Avramovic, for exaggerating a fall, and a Jenkins basket left the score at 91-89 with 50 seconds remaining. JJ Barea scored, 93-89, with 15.3 seconds remaining, and Estudiantes scored the final by staying, 95-89.
– Datasheet:
95 – Movistar Estudiantes (26 + 18 + 30 + 21): Avramovic (11), Vicedo (9), Brown (13), Delgado (4) and JJ Barea (13) -five starting-, Roberson (11), Djurisic (7), Arteaga (12), Jackson (6), Stoilov (2) and Gentile (7).
89 – Retabet Bilbao (20 + 23 + 26 + 20): Hakanson (6), Jenkins (15), Serron (4), Kulboka (7) and Balvin (11) -starting five-, Rousselle (13), Brown ( 16), Alex Reyes, Miniotas (10), Huskic (7), Klajic and Dos Anjos.
Referees: Carlos Peruga, Rafael Serrano and Rubén Sánchez. Víctor Arteaga was eliminated by five personnel (m.36).
Incidents: Match corresponding to the twenty-sixth day of the Endesa League played at the Palacio de Deportes (WiZink Center) in Madrid without an audience due to the pandemic.
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