Palencia Crushes Fuenlabrada 76-51 to Reach Final Four, Ending Madrid Side's Playoff Dream

Súper Agropal Palencia dominates Flexicar Fuenlabrada with a devastating performance, advancing to the Final Four in A Coruña after a lopsided 76-51 victory

The Castilian cauldron lived up to its name today, not only for the deafening atmosphere created by the home crowd, but also for the heat in this fifth game that was undoubtedly scorching.

The opening quarter began with adjustments from both teams. Flexicar Fuenlabrada started with Alex Renfroe back in the lineup. In response to this adjustment, Lezkano deployed Mathieu Kamba as his primary defender to neutralize him.

The scoreboard took a while to open with Fuenlabrada struggling badly from three-point range. The opposite was true for the hosts, who started very sharp from beyond the arc (11-7).
Palencia extended their lead to 20-7 after the referees called five consecutive fouls against Fuenlabrada, which crushed the visitors' morale.

The first quarter ended with a score of 26-9, leaving Fuenlabrada needing a comeback. The officiating was not allowing much contact for Iñaki Martín's team, which already had 9 personal fouls.

The second quarter began with the same dynamic: Palencia rolling from three-point range and Fuenlabrada suffering without two of their most important players in foul trouble (33-9).

The following minutes were marked by almost no scoring from either team, which logically favored the home side (34-12). There was also a confrontation between Natxo Lezkano and Augusto Lima.

The first half ended 41-21. The result was far from favorable for the visitors, who barring a miracle were not going to reach the Final Four. Despite this, the team improved considerably in this second quarter with the notable contribution of Paul Rigot.

The second half started with a three-pointer from Tobias Borg to set the tone for this period. Once again, a barrage of three-pointers from Palencia and a completely off-target Fuenlabrada (49-21).
The visiting team could not stop the bleeding and lacked offensive firepower with Vítor Benite struggling badly. The third quarter ended with a score of 63-33.

Natxo Lezkano's team was far superior, especially from three-point range where they had made 10 of 25 attempts, compared to just 2 of 18 for Flexicar Fuenlabrada.

The final quarter began with a very sharp Flexicar Fuenlabrada that with a 0-10 run gave hope to the dreamers (63-43).

The Súper Agropal Palencia players refocused to finish sealing the game against a Fuenlabrada that could not maintain their mental composure after the first quarter (68-45).

The game ended and Fuenlabrada's playoff journey came to a close following a crushing 76-51 defeat. With this lopsided scoreline, Súper Agropal Palencia sent a powerful message heading into the Final Four where they will face Leyma Coruña. The game's MVP was Ignus Jakovics, who after scoring 8 points, grabbing 4 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists earned 17 efficiency rating points.