JUNIN (Special).- In the absence of a team, individuality is good. Peñarol showed a lot of failures -especially defensive- in a good part of the game and went down by twenty-one points in the second quarter. However, the hierarchy of some of his players rescued him from a very dark pit..
Lucas Andújar was the hero, scoring double the victory with tenths to go when the Peñarolense attack was very tangled. Víctor Fernández supported with his classic aim in the second half. But Al Thornton, the old Sheriff, took charge of everything in the worst moments of the first half and also in a hot finale.. With 27 points and 9 rebounds he imposed his law in Junín and was the man of the turnaround that led his team to win 85-83 and thus make up for the defeat suffered seven days ago at the Sports Center at the hands of Oberá TC.
While The long-awaited debut of pivot Kelby Kramer (2.12 meters), for now, will have to wait. Abroad A bruise formed on one of his legs as a result of an accidental knee from a teammate during one of the previous practices.. And they preferred to protect him, waiting for his recovery for tomorrow’s match against Zárate Básket, the team’s fifth appearance in this National Basketball League.
Peñarol showed two faces in Junín. For much of the first half, he was the living image of disorder and defensive fragility. Argentino, who had an average of 67 points per game, at times played at will in the first half and hurt both with breaks and counterattacks.
If it weren’t for Damián Pineda’s very good entry into the game in the opening quarter, everything could have been much worse. The debutant helped to briefly level the fight in the first quarter after a terrible start.
Not even his contribution, however, could disguise all the imbalances. And, midway through the second set, Argentino led 45-24 and seemed headed for an easy victory.
But Thornton has too much hierarchy and took charge of the bad moment. They did everything well in the final stretch of the first half and Peñarol was revitalized at halftime with a 10-0 run.
In the complement it was another story. Why The Mar del Plata team planted a slightly more solid defense and why Thornton had more company. Thomas and Wallace gave a “little hand”, but the one who appeared with a really significant offensive contribution was Víctor Fernández.
Víctor Fernández intends to surpass Manuel Gómez.
Individual sparks, more than collective successes, allowed Peñarol to continue advancing. And in the final quarter go to the front.
Thornton took most of the risky shots and Peñarol led 83-79 with 21 seconds left. However, the team allowed a quick double by Gómez. To make matters worse, after the replacement, they lost the ball between Fernández and Ándujar and Frontera tied.
With just eight seconds on the clock, Fernández led a final offensive. He got tangled up, almost walked, but was able to pass the ball to the corner. Andújar picked it up and scored the long double that sealed a much celebrated victory.
Lucas Andújar scored the “game-winner” four tenths from the end with the score tied at 83.
Synthesis
Argentine (Junín) 83
M. Gómez 23, E. Dupuy 8, J. Slider 6, C. Naylor 0 and F. Podesta 7 (FI); E. Torne 11, T. Allende 7, G. Romero 7 and R. Frontera 14 and P. Di Prinzio 0. DT: Julian Pagura.
Peñarol 85
V. Fernández 18, M. Thomas 9, D. Wallace 10, A. Thornton 27 and I. Bednarek 4 (FI); D. Pineda 10 (x), F. Marín 2, L. Andújar 5, F. Tolosa 0 and N. Chiaraviglio 0. DT: Hernán Laginestra
Estadio: “Fortín de las Morochas” from Argentino.
Referees: Diego Rougier, Alejandro Zanabone and Alberto Ponzo.
Partials: 22-20, 45-34 y 63-56.
