Last decisive period

Granada has a great success and seals the victory in the last quarter

| Saturday, 21 November 2020

Girona Basketball has fallen at the Palacio Municipal de los Deportes de Granada by 83 to 60. The local team had the initiative on the scoreboard at all times and achieved the victory thanks to a significant success in shooting (29/56 in field shots -51.8%) and superiority in rebounding (34 at 16). Albert Sàbat (14) and Aleix Font (12) have led in scoring and Biram Faye and Gerard Sevillano in rating (11).

The match started with a Granada recovery that Lluís Costa transformed into a triple. The point guard finished the first half with 15 points and 17 ratings (3/4 in triples) and captained his team when he stepped on the floor. However, the visiting team has never distanced itself in the match, with Aleix Font leading the first ten minutes (7 points) who has put two points below the Girona team. Granada’s recovery came from within, with good individual actions that extended a first maximum advantage of nine points (22-15).

Font’s last two points in the first quarter continued with a triple from Barcelona. Biram Faye, who had just entered the field of play, brought his team closer to three points after recovering and making a basket (23-20). The match has entered a back-and-forth dynamic that has placed the visitors, who started today in a clean sheet, one point below after a triple by Olaf Schaftenaar with assistance from Albert Sàbat, protagonist in the second period (27-26). The entry again of Lluís Costa has widened the local advantage to seven points (40-33).

At the restart, the inner energy of Davis Rozitis (6 points in a row) wiped out the difference by five points, but the team from Granada responded again (51-42). A partial score of 2-7 brought the Girona closer again, with solid defenses and quick attacks (53-49) even though a three-pointer by Christian Díaz slightly loosened the Girona initiative in the game (56-50).

The last quarter was decisive. 27-10, 5 three-pointers from 7 attempts, and an initial 13-0 partial put the visiting options uphill (72-54, 35′), which concluded the game with a triple by Dani García (83-60) .

Statements by Carles Marco:

“Fucked at the end. I think in the first three quarters we did a lot of things right. We followed well what we had trained and defended well in many moments. We attacked with a bit of uncertainty and tension about the results, which is normal. But in small details we let them escape, like the five free throws we missed in the third quarter or the seven losses in the first quarter that were not meritorious by Granada’s defense.”   

“Beyond that, we have played three quarters from which we can take very positive things. They got to 56-50 with two three-pointers in the last second of the well-defended possession and then they made three more and we got discouraged, which I didn’t like. Because we train very well, we give it our all, but I guess out of frustration, it has caused this result even though the first thirty minutes of the match was even. I still think we are better than we are showing and  in two weeks we will continue more and better.”