Joventut with an amazing comeback against Gran Canaria
Yesterday evening Joventut Badalona welcomed Gran Canaria in the Palau Municipal d’Esports in a game that counted for Round 14 of the current ACB League regular season.
Daniel Miret, the head coach of Badalona opted to start the game with Kraag, Dotson, Dekker, Tomic and Hanga, while Jaka Lakovic replied with a starting five consisting of Kljajic, Albicy, Brussino, Pelos and Tobey.
The visitors started the game better and took a 5-point lead after the first quarter (15-20). They increased the lead in the second quarter and entered the halftime break with a 45-38 lead. After the team in yellow took a 12-point lead early in the third quarter, the “Penya” went on a 29-4 run and completely turned the game around. In the end, Joventut won convincingly 89-78.
Sam Dekker was the top scorer for the winning side, finishing the game with 20 points. Yannick Kraag and Kassius Roberson added 18 points each while Ante Tomic finished with a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Nico Brussino with 14, Caleb Homesley with 13 and Pierre Pelos with 12 points were the best scorers for the visitors.
With this win, Joventut tied Gran Canaria in the standings with a 9-5 record and is closer to securing a place in the Copa del Rey Final Eight tournament, which will be held in Gran Canaria between February 13th and 16th.
For Joventut and Gran Canaria, this was only the first of three games they must play this week. Badalona will travel to Lithuania to play against BC Wolves Vilnius in the EuroCup on Friday before the Catalan derby against Barcelona on Sunday. Gran Canaria will also play a EuroCup game on Wednesday against Hapoel Tel Aviv at home. After that, they will travel to Granada for an ACB League game on Sunday.
Imre Halasz
Image credit: CJB
