The Menorcans dominated the first three quarters but Rakocevic and company believed and won the comeback.
Fateful ending in Bintaufa for the interests of Hestia Menorca, who were left without celebrating their fourth victory of the season after having worked for the victory for more than 30 minutes, but in the final moments they saw how UEMC Real Valladolid Baloncesto rose from its ashes to turn the score around, which ended at 65 to 67.
From the beginning, both teams made it very difficult for their rivals to score, so the first basket was not seen until two and a quarter minutes into the period, with a dunk by Víctor Arteaga that found the direct path to the basket. Dani Manchón was the only one who managed to sustain the local offensives, with points from Diego Alderete entering the basket and Pol Figueras from three at the buzzer, giving the Palencia native five consecutive points for his team.
With parity although Hestia ahead so far, the second half of the first quarter went by with the same trend: a lot of momentum on the court but points in dribs and drabs. Vasilije Vucetić found the way from 6.75 and Raj Kovacević began to fuel with 5 consecutive points to give the first advantage to the visitors, which would end up short-lived with the fourth point from Pol Molins with which the period closed (13-13 ).
As soon as the second started, Sean McDonnell debuted in the Hestia shirt with a triple and Arteaga neutralized the attacks of Nathan Hoover and Kovacević with five points, including 2+1. Another basket and additional conversion by Diego Alderete began the Menorcans’ best moment, especially in defense, forcing turnovers and going hard against the rim.
The main architect of the 10-2 partial was Pavlin Ivanov, infallible from the personal line with a 6/6, which he complemented with two more points in suspension. The Bulgarian gave Pavelló Menorca reasons to be happy, which ended with the icing on the cake with another basket from McDonnell to go into the break with a very good feeling (34-23).
It would once again be Arteaga, the league MVP, who found the basket first in the second half, followed by one more triple from Figueras and a monstrous block from Ivanov finished off with his twelfth goal of the night. Javi Zamora’s men thus managed to settle into margins above double figures with a maximum of +16 with 4 minutes left in the quarter.
From 45-29, in which all the scoring was shared between six Hestia players and only four of the Pucelanos, the tables began to change slightly. Kovacević, despite the good actions of Alderete scoring his attempts from the perimeter, had already reached 13, and Hansel Atencia took over, with six consecutive points that brought the island’s lead closer to nine (47-38).
The reaction of the Menorcans in the last quarter would be immediate, with McDonnell hanging from the rim and Arteaga dominating with Figueras the direct block to double over the Cuenca center or take advantage of his mid-distance shot. With that formula, +13 returned with just under six minutes remaining; moment at which the visitor resurgence began.
Kovacević scored the three-point contest with three goals without a mistake in less than a minute and a half and Hoover responded to his teammate with another bomb that detonated the game completely, putting himself within one point. Agustí Sans put Real Valladolid ahead again in the light 23 minutes later, while free kicks were the only way for his rivals to score.
Two actions of accurate shooting, the first by Juan García-Abril from the corner and followed by Hoover’s two distant basket left Pavelló Menorca silent with 55 seconds left. Zamora’s board and Ivanov’s wrist worked for the Bulgarian’s triple, which would not be the last by Hestia, since Figueras pulled out a perfect parabola out of his hat, answering Vucetić’s free kicks to tie at 65. No However, in a bizarre final visitor possession in which the Serbian center’s own first shot went wide, he himself found the offensive rebound and managed to score over Arteaga stops a desperate shot from McDonnell that would not go in.
TECHNICAL SHEET:
Hestia Menorca 65 (13/21/13/18): Pol Figueras (13), Pavlin Ivanov (17), Diego Alderete (7), Sean McDonnell (7), Víctor Arteaga (13) – starting five – Andras Tanoh Dez (-), David Gómez (2), Golden Dike (-), Wilhelm Falk (-), Pol Molins (6), Emil Stoilov (-).
UEMC Real Valladolid Basketball 67 (10/13/15/29): Hansel Atencia (6), Daniel Manchón (5), Juan García-Abril (3), Amanze Egekeze (-), Visilije Vucetić (11) – starting five – Nathan Hoover (16) , Davis Rozitis (-), Maj Kovacević (22), Agustí Sans (4), Sergio de la Fuente (-).
