Río Breogán made an impressive home presentation at Pazo dos Deportes in Lugo with a convincing 99-90 victory over Serbian side KK Mega Basket, a team loaded with young prospects. With this result, the celestes maintain their perfect preseason record after also defeating Sporting Portugal in Ribadeo (110-76) and Real Madrid in Pontevedra (110-102).
A game with two timeouts and no doubts
The start was a whirlwind. Breogán came out with pace and flair, jumping to 11-2 in three minutes, forcing Vule Avdalovic to call an early timeout. Mega then raised the intensity and closed the gap (17-13), but five three-pointers from the celestes in the first quarter left it at 25-15 after the opening period.
In the second quarter, the Serbians really tightened up. More disciplined than their opponent, they got within one point (31-30) and forced Luis Casimiro to make adjustments, and they were still lurking with Lucic leading the charge three minutes from halftime (39-38). A three-pointer from Josep Peris and a basket from Francis Alonso in the final three seconds extended the lead to 49-40 at the break. The Málaga native, true to his instincts, already had 14 points.
The third quarter started with Mega on top again, intense on the offensive glass and just two points down. Two three-pointers from Aranitovic, Bolton's work, and solid defense got the game back on track (62-51), and from there came the best stretch for the home team: fluid offensive play, solid defense, and the lead ballooned to 73-54.
The fourth quarter changed nothing. An early 4-10 run gave the Serbians hope, but Víctor Arteaga made an impact in the paint and the lead never dropped below nine points (85-76 and 94-83) until the final 99-90.
What the home debut showed
The team is still not at full strength. Mavra, Brankovic, and Kasibabu were absent, all three with their national teams during the FIBA window, and recovering Ilić also sat out. Even so, Breogán dominated all aspects of the game and once again relied on what has become their calling card this summer: three-point accuracy and high-tempo offense.
Casimiro has been pushing the same idea for three games and it has worked all three times. With the ACB still far away, what matters is that the team's identity is already recognizable, which is exactly what's asked of a team in September.
The fans sent off their team with applause, and with their eyes on the weekend: Breogán faces Monbus Obradoiro in the Galicia Cup semifinal, which takes place Saturday and Sunday in Santiago.