by Baskonia needed a good run to qualify for the increasingly imminent Copa del Rey, which will be held in Malaga from February 15 to 18. The defeat of BAXI Manresa before him Bilbao Basket (74-54) forced the Vitorians to beat Real Madrid, the undisputed leader of the tournament (only one defeat in the first 16 days), or, failing that, lose against the whites by less than one point, as long as they surpassed the 72. Well, Dusko Ivanovic’s men achieved neither one nor the other.
Although they improved in the second half, Baskonia could not defeat the visitors (85-99) and, finally, it was Manresa that entered as last classified despite their defeat. Dzanan Musa, after his historic record against Efes in the Euroleague, where he scored 40 points, continued his good form and silenced a packed Buesa Arena, some 15,000 people in the stands, with no less than another 20 to give victory to Madrid.
Another of the best news from Madrid’s point of view was that Yabuselewho returned to the rotation this week after missing seven due to injury, seemed not to notice the inactivity and was the top scorer of the duel with 27.
After yesterday’s day, all the teams that will participate in the magical cup tournament have been defined. In the group of seeds there will be real MadridUnicaja of Málaga, Barcelona and Gran Canaria, which beat Valencia Basket yesterday in a tight duel (79-86) thanks to the performance of slaughter aj, author of 29 points. The oranges, for their part, finished the day as sixth classified and, together with UCAM Murcia, Lenovo Tenerife and Manresa, completed the teams that will aspire to a Cup that today is in the hands of Unicaja.
