A forgotten Catalan hides the secret of Lleida's great feat: the ARA's Instant Replay

BadalonaHiopos Lleida defeated UCAM Murcia (79-77) and virtually secured their permanence in the Endesa League. Pierre Orihuela, The player who a couple of years ago had no offers to continue playing basketball, had a key impact on the victory. The Catalan, who understands like few others the importance of the word usHe provided rebounds, open shots, and, above all, courage for the team coached by the great local hero, Gerard Encuentra. The 35-year-old coach has earned a high ranking in the ACB.

No success against the best attack in the League

Baloncesto Girona went into the final quarter with the match against La Laguna Tenerife tied, but they couldn't complete the upset (84-93). "The team's effort and fight weren't rewarded with accurate shooting. We tried much harder than our opponents, but we weren't able to convert our shots into points. When you play against the best offense in the league, you have to play things perfectly," acknowledged Moncho Fernández. The home team only made seven of their 22 three-pointers at Fontajau.

The Nou Congost takes out the calculator

Baxi Manresa's 93-104 defeat to Río Breogán leaves the Bagenc team outside the top eight with just four rounds remaining in the regular season. The home side's reaction, which had lost by as many as 33 points, came too late. "We played without rhythm and got discouraged when we missed easy plays," lamented Diego Ocampo. "We had clear ideas and executed our game plan very well," boasted Luis Casimiro.

La Penya is once again reliable at home

Joventut beat Surne Bilbao Basket (87-79) and put an end to the streak of three consecutive defeats at the Palau Olímpic, where they had not won since February 8. La Penya will arrive at the decisive stretch with a good position to obtain a ticket to play the play-off"Going almost three months without a home win was a mental burden that could have hurt us in this final stretch of the season, and now we've won again in front of our fans," explained Dani Miret, coach of the green-and-black team.