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may 23 2026MÁLAGA. Unicaja recovered its best form to decisively defeat Río Breogán 101-83 at Martín Carpena. Ibon Navarro's team delivered a solid performance, improved the head-to-head record against the Galician side, and keeps its playoff qualification hopes intact in the Liga Endesa.
The Málaga side arrived under pressure following a negative run marked by eight defeats in their last nine games and the recent European disappointment against AEK in the Basketball Champions League.
Additionally, Unicaja faced the matchup without key interior players Emir Sulejmanovic and Tyson Pérez, but from the opening tip made clear they were not willing to let slip the opportunity to stay alive in the fight for a Top-8 spot.
Ibon Navarro's team came out with tremendous energy and quickly opened up a lead on the scoreboard. A basket by Alberto Díaz put the score at 19-10 in the sixth minute, and shortly after a three-pointer by Jonathan Barreiro forced Luis Casimiro to call a timeout with the score at 22-10.
Río Breogán struggled immensely to contain Málaga's offensive pace and found no defensive solutions in the paint. Unicaja completely dominated the boards and imposed the game's tempo from both ends of the floor.
The first quarter ended with a commanding home advantage (29-15) and very favorable conditions for the Andalusian team.
Río Breogán tried to react in the second period thanks to the offensive talent of DeWayne Russell, the only player capable of generating offensive continuity for the Galicians over extended stretches.
But the problem for the Lucense side remained enormous on the boards. Unicaja's physical dominance near the basket was absolute and allowed the Málaga team to completely control the game.
Ibon Navarro's team maintained comfortable leads throughout and reached halftime clearly dominating the matchup (51-38).
The decisive blow came after the break. Unicaja increased the offensive pace even further and began to continuously punish a Río Breogán unable to keep pace in the scoring exchange.
Tyler Kalinoski appeared from beyond the arc with a three-pointer that extended the lead to 22 points and left the Galician side practically knocked out.
Río Breogán attempted comebacks at times thanks to the accuracy of Francis Alonso, the best visiting player with 18 points, but the game was already completely under Unicaja's control.
Kendrick Perry led the Málaga team offensively with 20 points and once again made a difference in game direction. Jonathan Barreiro also delivered a very complete performance with 14 points in another strong collective effort by the Andalusian squad.
With this victory, Unicaja keeps its playoff hopes very much alive and will continue to depend on itself in this thrilling Liga Endesa season finale. Beyond the final regular season game against Baskonia, the Málaga team still has a postponed matchup against Asisa Joventut to complete.
For Río Breogán, the loss at Martín Carpena definitively ends their hopes of reaching the Top-8.
