On Friday, La Laguna Tenerife erased a 6-point deficit with three minutes remaining to beat Bilbao in overtime. This Sunday they went further: down 39-60 at the start of the third quarter and winning 96-89. Two comebacks against the same opponent in three days to close the preseason.
A first half to forget
The Tenerife start was poor. Five opening possessions wasted, turnovers of different kinds, shooting errors and difficulties in the half-court offense. A three-pointer from Kurucs changed nothing and Bilbao went up 3-11.
Jaime Fernández appeared as a spark plug after a timeout from Jaka Lakovic and brought his team closer (11-13), but the team got stuck again. With a small lineup, the Tenerife players struggled with the size advantage and especially with the ball reversals that generated open three-pointers for the Basque team (17-24).
In the second quarter, Margiris Normantas punished from one-on-one situations, both from outside and inside, for a 0-11 run that made it 17-32. Once again Jaime Fernández provided some relief with a three-pointer and an assist (23-32), although Bastien Vautier continued to do damage in the paint (25-37).
From there, Tenerife scored almost exclusively from the free throw line while Bilbao maintained much greater consistency, shooting 12 of 15 from two-point range in the first twenty minutes. The stretch before halftime was the worst: just one basket in play in over five minutes, Kyle Guy 0 of 5 from three and a technical foul on Marcelinho Huertas for protesting. Halftime score 36-51.
Rock bottom and the reaction
The restart didn't improve things: a three-pointer from Martin Krampelj after a turnover and offensive rebound took the team to its worst moment, 39-60, the culmination of a 3-16 run.
A three-pointer from Van Beck and a dunk from Giorgi Shermadini woke up the team, which raised defensive intensity and started producing from the line, with Fitipaldo pressing in the backcourt. The result was a 15-0 run that brought Tenerife back into the game (54-60).
The decisive connection came with Kyle Guy, who chained two three-pointers after his poor start (65-67). A three-pointer from Huertas at the buzzer left the third quarter at 68-74.
The finish
The final period started badly: Tenerife got into the bonus in just one minute and Bilbao pulled away again (72-81). But the Tenerife defense didn't relent and outside accuracy brought the game back to 80-81, with two missed shots to take the lead.
From there, an exchange of baskets until 84-87. And then appeared the two men of the game: TJ Bamba, forceful in his finishes and even from three-point range, and suffocating Nate Darling on defense; and Guy, who put the finishing touch with an almost decisive three-pointer (94-89).
Bamba was named MVP with 12 points, 7 rebounds and a rating of 21. Guy finished with 18 points, shooting 4 of 5 from three after halftime.