Fourth defeat in six games for Cebé, very stuck at the end

The Cebé Cartagena has a lot to row to play the promotion phase to LEB Oro this season. Gustavo Aranzana’s team missed a good opportunity this Sunday to cling to the top eight positions in the standings, slipping in the final stretch of the match against an efficient Ibiza (60-64). It is the fourth defeat in six games for Gustavo Aranzana’s men, who must mature quickly if they want to dream of something more than permanence.

This Cebé is a team that proposes low-scoring games, unlike last season’s overflowing one. With skill, sacrifice and a stellar performance by Pau Tendero (31 points), the Albinegros came to the match against Ibiza with the good taste in their mouths of winning in Alginet (60-65). This version loosens the offensive capacity of great squads, but it does not give to win in the final minutes. Mismatches and poor aim in the last quarter were already a condemnation against Menorca (62-73).

And they were once again a differential slab this Sunday, when Ibiza was contained but was allowed a gift in the last blink. With a minute to go, the visitors exhausted their possession with a score against 58-60. But the giant Mendiola fell asleep and Da Silva grabbed a key rebound that preceded Pau Carreño’s saving triple, to put a lot of ground in between (58-63). We will never know what would have happened without that mismatch.

Jordi Grimau, always attentive

There is no giving Ibiza crumbs. He sucked them up like a Da Silva vacuum cleaner. The Brazilian, 2.14 meters tall, was the MVP of the match with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Half of the score was scored in his 100% reliability in free throws (8 of 8), in the same line as a team (13 of 14) that knocks on the door of the LEB Oro. In all the moments of emergency came out the triples of Jonats and the class of Jordi Grimau. Path of 40 years gives lessons after a long stage in ACB with TAU Cerámica, Manresa, UCAM and Students, among others.

That emergency warning jumped to the Ibiza to activate at the right time. Not so to the Cebé, failed in the most decisive baskets. Yes, there were two without three for Víctor Aguilar, who in a sweet moment was able to make three triples in a row that would have been gold. A rebound from the Canarian point guard and a stopper from Garuba made them dream of victory (56-53). Everything went wrong in a partial 4-11 in the final moments, where Ibiza pulled the wrist and Cebé did not accompany him at all. Neither the imbalances nor the finesse of a Powell who progresses (13 points) but missed a two-point shot at another key moment.

Low average of 60 points

The morning started quite straight with a favorable 23-14 in the first quarter. A plus 9 advantage that was twisted in the improvable second quarter (8-14), enough to give Ibiza a thread. The locals made an effort to stop Ibiza’s offensive capacity until they took everything to the last blinks of the fourth round. It is the line of those of Aranzana, still unable to break the average of 60 points per game. It rarely gives, at the moment, to add victories.