TENERIFE. Surne Bilbao Basket put the perfect finishing touch on the Liga Endesa regular season with a hard-fought victory over La Laguna Tenerife, 82-87. Although Unicaja's loss had already mathematically secured their playoff spot, Jaume Ponsarnau's squad confirmed their qualification in the best possible way, clinching a historic seventh-place finish.
The star of the night was Tryggvi Hlinason. The Icelandic center dominated the paint with 20 points, 11 rebounds and a 35 rating, leading a victory that confirms the excellent form of the Bilbao squad.
The game started with La Laguna Tenerife setting the tone. The hosts found good offensive opportunities through Fridriksson, Fran Guerra, Thomas Scrubb and Patty Mills, while on the visiting side it was Hlinason who sustained virtually all of the offensive production.
Defense imposed its will for many minutes, especially on the perimeter, and the scoreboard advanced with short-range scoring. The black-and-gold squad managed small leads during the first quarter, although the entry of Melwin Pantzar gave another rhythm to the Bilbao attack and allowed them to level the game before the end of the period (17-15).
The second quarter maintained the balance. Tim Abromaitis hit the first three-pointer of the game and Patty Mills extended the home advantage, but Surne Bilbao's second unit responded with energy.
Darrun Hilliard brought the visitors closer with a three-point play and a three-pointer from Harald Frey Font allowed the Basque squad to take the lead for the first time in the game. Neither team managed to break the deadlock and the clash reached halftime completely open (34-32).
The key to the game appeared after the break.
La Laguna Tenerife managed to control the visiting three-point shooting for many minutes, but found no solutions to stop Hlinason's dominance near the basket. Added to the Icelandic leader's performance were Pantzar, Luke Petrasek and Justin Jaworski to put together a 0-11 run that definitively changed the game (41-49).
Jaume Ponsarnau's squad then took control of the scoreboard, taking advantage of the hosts' offensive struggles and intelligently managed an advantage that proved decisive.
La Laguna Tenerife tried until the end, but never found the offensive consistency needed to complete the comeback. Patty Mills, Marcelinho Huertas and Aaron Doornekamp could not provide the usual three-point accuracy from other games, while Jaime Fernández assumed much of the offensive responsibility in the most difficult moments.
Even so, Txus Vidorreta's team never stopped competing and kept their options alive for much of the final quarter.
However, Surne Bilbao Basket knew how to control the game's tempo and found answers at key moments to preserve their lead until the final 82-87.
With this victory, Surne Bilbao Basket completes an outstanding regular season and finishes seventh, securing their place in the Liga Endesa Playoffs. For their part, La Laguna Tenerife concludes the regular season in eighth place and will face Real Madrid in the quarterfinals for the title.