Betis Baloncesto chokes on WiZink (86-82)

The opening was terrifying. Betis Baloncesto suffered a real bombardment, with four shots from Estudiantes coming from three-point range that set their defense on fire. That 4/4 contrasted with the 0/5 of the green and white, cold, without touch in the wrists and without playing anything. The score of 15-4 required García de Vitoria’s timeout and two exchanges: Cvetkovic and Kasibabu on the court. Dressings for serious injuries in the monohull. A 0-5 (15-9) relieved Betis, who took refuge in a lukewarm zone without any effect against the collegiate detonations (20-9). On the seventh attempt, and crying the ball, Betis nailed its first triple, but the Estudiantes were overwhelming him. In intensity, speed and efficiency in execution. A pickle translated into 24 points in eight minutes. Gonzalo García and Kasibabu raised the tone in the exchange of opinions after the Congolese change. The Estudiantes, on fire; and Betis, out of touch, without spark. The conclusive 30-16 of the first quarterwith seven school three-pointers, forced a radical change from Betis in order to contain that tsunami dressed in black that was swallowing it.

In contexts like this, it is necessary to suffer, tighten the defensive pins, endure and wait for the downpour to stop. A downpour. Cristian Díaz expanded to 17 (33-16) when Cvetkovic took command of the operations in the middle of the storm (35-23). After the burst of triples released (8/11), Mudwith his imposing physique, hammered from the inside while Betis, with almost all of his sources disabled, tried to connect through the defense. You know, breaking stones. Estudiantes was already missing more than scoring and Benite, at the end of three, fell below the border of ten (37-28). Betis mended the unstitching. Hughes followed suit with five points in a row (37-33). Little by little, the game was redirected towards much more comfortable terrain for the green and white. Overexcitement makes you feel bad. In a matter of minutes, Estudiantes went from flammable material to a fairground shotgun. A bipolar team. It lowered the collegiate soufflé, as well as the temperature and ambient noise. Betis never lost their nerve and now, after the shipwreck, they were on solid ground after a partial score of 9-21 (39-37) which was 12-21 after Garino’s goal at the half-time buzzer (42-37). Betis had minimized damage. From 33-16 in the eleventh minute to 42-37 in the intermission. He was more than alive. Their great virtue, typical of veteran teams, was not to give up when Estudiantes were most unleashed and to hold on, correcting and working, with patience and defense, until their moment came.

Betis comes back

The beginning of the third quarter was a declaration of intent. Pressure on the ball man, stealing Renfroe and peer assistance Radoncic (42-39). Next, triangulation and DeBisschop mate (42-41). Cyclothymia had taken over the Estudiantes, unknown and fallen. All his strength left him in the volcanic opening quarter and Radoncic (14 points already), with a three-pointer, sealed the green and white comeback (42-44). He had his rival, who was chaining failure after failure, groggy in the corner.

De Bisschop drew a center basket vintage (42-46) and then Estudiantes did react, feeding again with triples (50-46). The game was already about blast furnaces, steel, and the defensive zone did not quite generate dividends for Betis. He let it shoot and didn’t completely seal the rebound just when Schmidt unleashed himself again and shot up to 20 points (56-51). The schoolboys had thirteen three-pointers in a match that was already a melee with an increasingly contained scoreboard and short distances. As the physical level grew, the scoring volume decreased. Renfroe zigzagged, bouncing and bouncing on his left until he found the opposite corner. Alex Suarez so that the man from Mahón could break the triple from 60-59 that closed the third segment.

The best was left. A pure heart-stopping room in which to push the defense, with Renfroe and Kasibabu pulling, adding help, putting in their hands and activating the off-road mode. Alderete hit the triple that the rim spat at Benite (63-63) in full defensive expansion of the teams, with very long helps from his fives. Suárez responded to Cristian Díaz (66-66), Benite’s points did not arrive and Estudiantes got oil from the offensive rebound. With five minutes left, both teams in bonuses. The always feared variable of small details (a cliché that makes sense on nights like this) was already coming into play in a match immersed in the sequence of basket, reply and counter-reply (72-70 at 3.10).

It was a moment to not get stuck and Betis did it. It got jammed. Oh, the free throw (13/21). He chained several attacks without scoring and lost Hughes by five points in three minutes. Suárez came to the rescue at a critical moment (76-76) when Andric nailed the sixteenth collegiate triple (79-76). “We are going to win this game,” WiZink shouted, one of those roars that invoke evil fario. Cvetkovic pressed (79-78) and granger He started the victory for his team in three actions: a triple against Suárez’s mark in the defensive change, an attacking foul by Betis given away by the referees (déjà vu); and another one, this time in defense, for the Uruguayan to finish the night (84-78). Nor did Betis Baloncesto throw in the towel, which adjusted through Benite but could no longer postpone the inevitable.