Badalona (Barcelona), 18 Feb. A last-second counter from Tim Abromaitis to Joel Parra certified Lenovo Tenerife’s passage to their first Copa del Rey final (72-73) in a power-to-power duel and minimal alternations on the scoreboard against in Joventut.
Led by a bloated Parra (26 points), the hosts dreamed until the last moment of qualifying for a Cup final for the first time in 15 years, but they paid for their mismanagement in the last seconds, when the Dominican Andrés Feliz missed a hat-trick. with a point on the scoreboard instead of opting to run out of possession.
Cook’s next basket took Lenovo Tenerife past the semi-final barrier in their fifth attempt in the last six editions, and they will face Unicaja this Sunday in an unprecedented final.
The kick off was given by the triplistas. Doornekamp, Jaime Fernández and Fitipaldo scored on the line three for Unicaja, and Guy answered La Penya twice. Then Parra came on the scene, scoring six points and drawing two fouls on Cook in five minutes.
A triple from Feliz and another basket from Parra on the counterattack forced Vidorreta’s first time out (17-11, min.7). The Canarian team regained feeling after the break, boosted in attack by seven points from Marcelinho Huertas (23-23, min.9).
The green-black response did not wait. First with four points from Tomic and Feliz, then two three-pointers from Parra and a third from Vives to catapult the greens and blacks to the scoreboard (36-23, min.13). The road to the ring being prohibited, Lenovo Tenerife relied on Salin’s wrist, with two three-pointers, to reverse the trend (37-39, min.17).
More aggressive on both sides of the field, he dries Penya and punished with the free kick, but four points from Ribas bring the host back in the lead before the break (44-40). Parra, with 15 points, and Salin, with 10, were each team’s top scorers at halftime.
Both teams raised the physical bar after the holidays, in a sequence of many faults and few points (47-47, min.25). The tie was so great that Durán only needed four runs from Huertas to call a timeout.
Without fluidity against the iron defense of Tenerife and the dominance of Shermadini in the racket, Joventut boosted with two three-pointers from an inspired Parra and a third from Feliz to complete the fourth lead (59-57). The inspiration didn’t last and equality prevailed again, in a duel of wear without easy baskets (69-69, min.38).
With 36.5 seconds remaining, Shermadini equalized (71-71) with one of his two free throws and in the ensuing action Doornekamp unsportsmanlikely fouls Feliz, who adds one . With 20.8 on the clock, the Dominican missed a hat-trick and Cook, on the clock, put Tenerife in front with 3.9 to go (72-73).
In the last action, a spectacular counter by Abromaitis on Parra gave the Canarian team access to the first Copa del Rey final in their history, as they cruelly dismissed Joventut.
– Data sheet:
72 – Joventut Badalona (27 + 17 + 15 + 13): Vives (3), Guy (10), Parra (26), Brodziansky (3), Tomic (5) -starting five-, Kraag (-), Busquets (-), Ribas (9), Ellenson (7), Ventura (-), Feliz (9) and Birgander (-).
73 – Lenovo Tenerife (23+17+17+16): Huertas (15), Jaime Fernández (13), Cook (2), Doornekamp (9), Shermadini (12) -starting five-, Rodríguez (-), Fitipaldo (5), Salin (13), Diagné (-), Abromaitis (4) and Guerra (-).
Referees: Daniel Hierrezuelo, Emilio Pérez Pizarro, Benjamín Jiménez and Alfonso Olivares. Doornekamp was eliminated for five personal fouls (min.40).
Incidents: Second Copa del Rey semi-final played at the Palau Municipal d’Esports de Badalona in front of 11,834 spectators. After the first quarter, a tribute was paid to former player Albert Oliver. ECE
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