Baxi Manresa signed one of the surprises of the day with the resounding victory against the leader of group A of the Euro Cup, Cedevita Olimpia of Ljubljana, in a duel dominated from start to finish by the Catalans (99-82).
Retin Obasohan, with 16 points scored, was the top scorer for the Manresa team with a 5/6 in two-point shots.
Both teams started with difficulties in the offensive section, although the Manresans were the first to take the initiative with a great Gustav Knudsen from long distance (11-8, min. 5).
Baxi Manresa improved in the following minutes and a 2+1 by Retin Obasohan (17-9, min. 8) set off all the alarms in the visiting team, and Mitrovic quickly stopped it with a timeout.
In the end, the people from Manresa maintained the advantage and left at the end of the first period with a comfortable 23-15 in the light.
The script in the second quarter did not change and young Gerard Fernández joined the party with a quick triple to put the momentary maximum in the Nou Congost (31-17, min. 12).
The advantage increased after a few disastrous minutes for the Slovenians and Agustín Ubal with his speed in attack took advantage of it to keep his team with a very good result (39-25, min. 17).
However, Cedevita reacted in the final stretch of the first half and managed to reduce the deficit and leave the score at 46-38 just before marching to the locker room.
After the restart, Baxi Manresa once again showed their best side through the energy of Pierre Oriola and put themselves in the middle with a lead large enough to play calmly in the following minutes (54-38, min. 23).
The Slovenians did not want to leave the match so quickly and tried to return the set with a set led by Miha Cerkvenik (64-52, min. 27).
The visitor's reaction was a mirage, since Baxi Manresa once again exceeded its maximum after some very good consecutive minutes from Álex Reyes, who made it 78-56 just before facing the last ten minutes of the game.
In the last quarter, Diego Ocampo's men maintained the level, this time through the good level of 'Kao' Akobundu in the inside game (83-63, min. 33).
And when everything seemed doomed, the figure of Aleksej Nikolic appeared in the Adriatics to put his team within 11 points of difference with three minutes remaining (87-76, min. 37).
A reaction that lasted a very short time and Baxi Manresa once again returned to its best version to sentence it as soon as possible and beat Cedevita Olimpia of Ljubljana 99-82.
Technical sheet
99 – Baxi Manresa (23+23+32+21): Benitez (3), Ubal (9), Reyes (9), Steinbergs (13), Golden (8) -cinco inicial-; Akobundu (6), Gaspà (7), Knudsen (11), Olinde (10), Oriola (4), Obasohan (16) y Fernández (3).
82 – Surrendered Olimpia Ljubljana (15+23+18+26): Stewart (10), Gibson (15), Mcnair (6), Blazic (1), Chougkaz (4) -cinco initial-; Girard (7), Nikolic (11), Brajkovic (4), Cerkvenik (8) and Skara (16).
Referees: Joseph Bissang, Amit Bakak and Ioannis Tiganis. They eliminated the local player Gaspà (min. 37) and the visitor Mcnair (min. 35) for five personal fouls.
Incidences: Match corresponding to matchday 10 of the Euro Cup played at the Nou Congost.
