It’s been a long time since the last time Godoy Cruz shouted champion in a First Basketball tournament. Last night, with the support of his people, he beat Atenas as a visitor at the Pozo Apache 67 to 68.
From the first minute, the rival team appeared as a concentrated opponent with a great game. In the first two balls they were already winning 6 to 0, but the Expreso recovered and went up 7 to 11. From then on the game became even and neither team ever got more than 5 points difference.
At the end of the first half, the game was tied 34-34. Godoy Cruz was unable to hit the shots from the perimeter that other times entered and Atenas, with the speed of its players, was able to take the lead at the beginning of the third quarter. It went back and forth and the Apaches managed to close the third quarter up by 6 points.
There appeared the soul, personality and experience of Godoy Cruz. In the first 3 minutes of the last quarter he managed to reverse the score and 7 minutes from the end, the Expreso won by 2 points. Athens never gave up from there to the end it was even and close, with several failures in the definition of both sides and some unnecessary fouls.
With 2 minutes to go, the final was tied 67-67. Tomba had some chances but failed, the same thing happened to Apache even from the free throw line. With only 12 seconds left on the table, Expreso had a great chance with two free kicks in the hands of Brian Krsul. The first did not enter but the second made the winery bias delirious, reaching Viamonte Street.
With 11 seconds on the scoreboard, Atenas played everything to the last ball, after a strong mark, the local shot awkwardly and Lucas Mûller kept the rebound, hugged it, put it against his chest and everyone’s heart accelerated because Godoy Cruz shouted champion in local basketball after more than 40 years.
SYNTHESIS:
ATENAS SPORT CLUB B (67): Juan Manuel Ruiz 0; Santiago Perez 31; Abel Lopez 6; Lautaro Picciotto 16; Matías Bragagnolo 6 (FI); German Zumaeta 0; Diego Garcia 6; Genaro Duran 0; Valentin Grilli 2; Mariano Romero 1. DT: Mauricio Pedemonte.
GODOY CRUZ ANTONIO TOMBA B SPORTS CLUB (68): Francis Staerkle 6; Maximilian Leyton 16; Lucas Mueller 4; Nicholas Anton 16; Sergio Cuellar 7 (FI); Juan Cruz Cabral 2; Brian Krusul 9; Nicholas Orzechowski 8; Gonzalo Tokic 0; Alan Garcia Rosello 0. DT: Sergio Peralta.
Stadium: Nelson «Pipio» Pedemonte.
Partials: 20-23; 34-34 and 56-50.
Figure: Lucas Muller (Godoy Cruz B)
Referees: Rodrigo Oliver-Guillermo Funes-Fernando Narvaez.
