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mar 28 2026GRANADA - Covirán Granada secured their second consecutive home victory on Saturday to fuel their survival miracle, now just three wins away from safety, defeating Hiopos Lleida 92-89 at the Palacio de los Deportes. Lleida extended their losing streak to seven consecutive defeats and missed the chance to distance themselves from the bottom of the Liga Endesa standings.
The Granada team started the game strong, with significant impact from French point guard Jonathan Rousselle coming off the bench (16-8, min. 7 after a 11-2 run), which helped them finish the first quarter ahead (23-17). Senegalese center Atoumane Diagne of the visiting team suffered an injury during the quarter.
The Catalans reacted at the start of the second half, doing damage in the paint (25-24, min. 13), but three-point accuracy propelled Covirán Granada again (36-29, min. 16), reaching halftime with a ten-point lead (45-35) thanks to Hiopos Lleida's poor three-point shooting percentage.
Oriol Paulí led the visitors' strong start out of the locker room (48-44, min. 23), but yet another stellar performance this season from Croatian Luja Bozic allowed the home team to extend their lead again (59-50, min. 27) and enter the final ten minutes with plenty of winning chances (65-55).
For Hiopos Lleida, defensively helpless and erratic on offense, things got even worse when Covirán Granada produced some of their best basketball of the season (73-57, min. 32).
The team coached by Gerard Encuentra tried to hold on through points from American James Batemon to fight until the end (84-75, min. 38 after a 0-7 run).
In the end, Hiopos Lleida could not avoid their seventh consecutive loss despite having a chance to force overtime with a three-pointer from Batemon in the final second, after Covirán Granada nearly threw away their solid performance in a terrible final minute and a half.
92 - Covirán Granada (23+22+20+27): Costa (15), Pérez (9), Kljajic (12), Bozic (25), Babatunde (7) -starting five- Rousselle (8), Ngouama (3), Jonhson (3), Alibegovic (8), Brimah (2), Durán (-).
89 - Hiopos Lleida (17+18+20+34): García (5), Batemon (25), Paulí (11), Ejim (16), Krutwig (8) -starting five- Walden (-), Agada (4), Golomán (4), Diagne (2), Sanz (8), Shurna (6).
