There was no room for error on the leather track, and Uni did not fail. The convincing and relatively placid victory over Arka Gdynia has the gift of keeping Girona alive in the Euroleague until the last game and, in addition, it ensures a consolation prize as sweet as having a ticket to in the Eurocup, the second continental competition. More than the match itself, which is not too long in history, the European day served to shed much light on group B. Fenerbahçe, Sopron (despite losing to Landes) and Kursk (despite falling to the Turks) are already in quarterfinals. And the last place is only a matter of two: if Schio wins the remaining match with Fenerbahçe, the Italians will take it. If they lose, and Spar Girona beat Landes in Fontajau on February 23 in the other postponed match, it will be the team of Alfred Julbe who will go round. Of course, in fourth place, with the formidable Ekaterinburg as a rival.
Uni managed to resolve a game in Poland yesterday without much history, especially when in the second quarter they found more offensive fluidity and managed to harden the defense. Burke (13 points at halftime with 3/3 in triples) was the best remedy to attack Arka Gdynia’s defense. Girona came to win by 14 (24-38) after two balls recovered from Drammeh and the American, and ended up closing the first half 10 up (31-41).
Reisingerova appeared at the start of the second half, with her six points throughout the game almost followed in the third quarter. Between this and an unsportsmanlike one by Gustafson, the straw man who kept the locals alive, on Laia Palau, Spar Girona regained the 14 points of maximum advantage (34-48), which became 16 with a Gardner basket 4 minutes from the end of this partial. It was time to break it definitively and Araújo, with a triple, placed a conclusive 38-57. However, Arka Gdynia led a timid reaction to close the quarter to 13 of Girona (48-61) after a Bertsch basketball.
There was no reason to suffer. It was a match between a team that played nothing, the Poles, and another, Spar Girona, forced to win to keep dreaming. Uni started the final half returning to 17 ahead (50-67) with a basket from Araújo, which in a three and nothing was 22 (50-72) with a triple by Drammeh at 6:45 . Arka Gdynia stopped the game with a timeout but the Polish team, very hasty, barely offered arguments beyond Gustafson. With the game in their pocket, Uni got stuck in the attack and forgave, as Laura Antoja said in the locker room, a wider score. There was no need to bleed either, because the goal of staying alive in the Euroleague had already been achieved. Now everything happens for Fenerbahçe-Schio on the 19th. If the Italians win, Girona in the Eurocup. If they lose, with Landes winning on the 23rd, Uni will be in the quarterfinals of the Euroleague.
