Real Madrid defeated Joventut Badalona 75-80 this Sunday in an exciting duel at the Olympic Games, but it wasn’t decided until the final moments. Adam Hanga hit a triple with four seconds left to force overtime, but it missed the target.
At the beginning of the game, the defense was dominant, and neither team was able to score easily. It was so much that both teams scored just five points each in the first five minutes of the game. After the first scoring break, Joventut took control of the attack with a great Ante Tomic in the paint and opened up the first small lead on the scoreboard (15-9, 8 minutes).
For Real Madrid, former Green and Black Andres Feliz came on with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 17-16 at the end of the first period. La Penya sparked their attack again thanks to Cameron Hunt’s wrist and started scoring from mid-range and long range (25-21, 13 minutes).
However, the Madrid fans shifted into sixth gear and when the ball was hot, Sergio Llull scored, giving his team a four-goal lead (27-31, 16 minutes). The first half ended with a great exchange of baskets, with the score 35-37 in favor of the visiting team.
After the break, Real Madrid once again put Feliz in charge, making the home team nervous (42-48, 25 minutes). Just when it looked like Scariolo’s side would be able to leave the match easily, Vives and Hunt came on for Joventut with five consecutive goals to revive one of the great Endesa Liga classics (52-57, 28 minutes).
Olympic collapsed into a pressure cooker, but two childish mistakes on offense were exploited by Theo Maledon, leaving his team trailing 55-63 with 10 minutes left in the game. In the final quarter, Real Madrid’s newcomer Alex Len put the white team on his back and disrupted the game, with La Peña constantly trying to react to the visitors’ push (57-69, 33 minutes).
It looked like Real Madrid would end the duel, but Joventut never gave up and quickly pulled within six points (65-71, 37 minutes). With four seconds left, Adam Hanga took a shot to force overtime, but it missed, and Real Madrid then scored from the free-throw line.
technical sheet
Youth Badalona (17+18+20+20): Rubio (18), Hunt (10), Clark (2), Ruzic (3), Virgander (9) – starting five -; Dorrell (-), Hakansson (3), Vives (6), Decker (4), Tomic (16), Hanga (4).
Real Madrid (16+21+26+17): Campazzo (9), Kramer (8), Abalde (2), Lyles (8), Tavares (4) – starting five -; Procida (2), Maledon (11), Deck (7), Garba (2), Llull (5), Feliz (10), Len (12).
referee: Jordi Arriaga, Alfonso Olivares, Igor Esteve. He eliminated local player Rubio (40 minutes) and visitor Feliz (40 minutes) with five personal fouls.
incident: The match, which corresponds to Round 6 of the Endesa League, was played in front of a crowd of 11,372 at the Palau Municipal d’Esport in Badalona.
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