Unicaja Oviedo gives in to the success of Palencia

The playoffs for promotion to Liga Endesa are very difficult for Unicaja Banco Oviedo. The Ocebista team conceded the second defeat of the series against Zunder Palencia by 83-70, in a duel in which Natxo Lezkano’s boys were significantly inferior to the local team, on the other hand touched by the magic wand of aim, signing at the end of the clash an incredible 15/31 in triples. The OCB is forced to win next Thursday at its Pumarín fort in order to continue subsisting and feed the hopes of a possible comeback, although many things will have to change with respect to the second stake played yesterday in Palencia.

And it is that the first quarter was already a preview of what would come later, and that Unicaja began commanding thanks to the success of Paul Jorgensen, author of 6 of the first 8 points from Oviedo (6-8). It was the only advantage of the OCB, who would immediately see how Palencia, with a three-pointer, took the initiative. A 10-0 run forced the coach from Oviedo to request time-out, but things would not improve at all. The Asturian formation hardly had an interior presence in attack, without finding good positions where the Kabasélé and McDonnell did damage, although Elechi slightly mitigated this lack. For their part, the locals took the opportunity to do damage with Speight and Ali in charge of operations (25-11)

In the second period some defensive improvement was evident, but in attack Unicaja was a disaster at times, accumulating continuous failures in the triple and numerous turnovers. In fact, the first part would end with a 1/11 from 6.75 and 10 lost balls, two sections where the catastrophe was brewing. McDonnel made his debut after assistance from Xavier and Pedro Rivero stopped the match, not to let the Ocebista reaction take shape (27-17). Jorgensen reappeared to continue contributing points, but this was barely enough against a Palencia who was still very focused on the 3-point shot. In addition, there was a lack of intensity at certain moments of the game, such as in a play where Speight, after missing 2 free throws, stole the rebound from a Kamba in the arms of Morpheus, so that Prince Ali ended up scoring. Intermission was reached with a disadvantage of 17 points and many aspects to correct (41-24).

At the beginning of the third period, Unicaja seemed to wake up when they chained two triples through Xavier and Kamba, but it was only a mirage, because Palencia soon recovered their lead close to points thanks to the inspiration of a great Prince Ali. Although Roberts Blumbergs, from Latvia, scored everything he threw, reaching 5/5 in triples. An unsportsmanlike on McDonnell seemed to start the engine of a sleepy Unicaja. Again, another simple threat, diluted against a much more aggressive rival and involved in the game. In some plays he sinned with candor and softness under the hoops, as if instead of a playoff game he was at a boy scout tea party. Kabasélé opened his account with a mate, the same move that culminated in a two-handed Kamba, but they were faint sparks before the flames of a red-hot Palencia (64-46).

Already in the last quarter details of pride came from Lundqvist and Kamba. However, the Palencia was a true hurricane. Mus Barro was pupa in the area of ​​the OCB and Chuso González was added to the triplista festival of the purples, with a difference that shot up to 26 points on a couple of occasions (78-52 and 83-57). With the match completely sentenced, both coaches chose to give minutes to the less usual and reserve their best men for future battles. Unicaja took advantage of the relaxation of Palencia to cut to 83-70 in the last few minutes in which there were a couple of very ugly and unnecessary actions by Ryan Nicholas. The poor performance of players like Atencia or Xavier was excessively noticeable, while the most outstanding players from Oviedo were Jorgensen, Kamba and an Elechi who left good details. Unicaja needs to completely change its skin for the third game if it wants to extend the series. It will be key not to think that you have to win three games to pass the tie, but to concentrate 100% on that third game in which Natxo Lezkano’s pupils will be able to count on the support of their fans. In basketball everything is possible and on a stage with the mystique of Pumarín, much more.