A show for its people

In the return of the public to the Fernando Buesa Arena and with a great performance by Jayson Granger, Baskonia defeated Fuenlabrada and reaped its second triumph in the Spanish ACB League.

By the second date of the Endesa League, Baskonia and Fuenlabrada faced each other. The former came from obtaining a victory in their debut as visitors against Valencia, while the latter, in their initial presentation, fell at home against Gran Canaria after extra time. Those led by Dusko Ivanovic jumped onto the pitch with Wade Baldwin IV, Vanja Marinkovic, Rokas Giedraitis, Tadas Sedekerskis and Landry Nnoko from Cameroon. For their part, those led by Josep María Raventós did so with Sean Armand, Obi Emegano, Leo Meindl, Kwan Cheatham and the Canadian Kyle Alexander.

The match played at the Fernando Buesa Arena presented a favorable start to the local team, which with a good contribution on the perimeter from both Wade Baldwin IV and Vanja Marinkovic, managed to open a premature advantage of seven units (13-6). Little by little, the visiting team was matching the actions, being important for this the outside scoring of the Brazilian Leonardo Meindl and the North American Sean Armand. As the minutes went by, both coaches were giving participation to the players of the second unit. Within this panorama, the Basques found solutions through Jayson Granger and Steven Enoch, who in a couple of opportunities combined from the central pick. For their part, the Madrilenians maintained a good effectiveness in triples, with the Malian-born Bassala Bagayoko collaborating from the bench in this area. The parity was maintained throughout the second quarter, standing out the figure of the Lithuanian Rokas Giedraitis in those of Vitoria-Gasteiz and of the Serbian Dusan Ristic in those of the capital.

At the beginning of the second half, the owner of the house was in front of the electronic in figures from 42 to 41. In the first bars of the complement, the best version of those directed by Josep María Raventós could be observed, who placed a partial of 18- 9, which gave them the possibility of getting a difference of eight points. During this period of the game, the São Paulo player Meindl was again decisive, who was well accompanied by the American Kwan Cheatham, both being very effective from beyond 6.75 meters. The reaction of those commanded by Dusko Ivanovic did not wait and at the end of the third period, by the hand of an inspired Matt Costello, with two consecutive bombs, they managed to take control of the score again. Between the end of said quarter and the start of the last, five points in a row and a couple of assists from Granger, allowed the local to get a rent of ten units. Fuenlabrada tried a comeback, mostly on individual impulses from Meindl and Emegano. However, Baskonia remained firm and ended up taking the victory 95-86, thus achieving their second victory in the same number of presentations.

The winner was the performance of the nationalized Armenian American Steven Enoch, who scored 23 points (10/11 doubles) and grabbed 9 rebounds. On the losing side, Brazilian Leo Meindl finished as the top scorer with 23 points.

Uruguayan point guard Jayson Granger spent 24:32 minutes on the court, in which he contributed 18 points (4/8 triples and 3/4 doubles), 1 rebound, 7 assists and 2 steals, for a total valuation of 22, the second most discharge from your team.

The next match for our compatriot’s team will be on Sunday, when as a visitor they have to face Joventut de Badalona.

Photo: Eurohoops