Obradoiro had been away from Liga Endesa for two years, and their return started terribly: down 14-2 in five minutes. They ended up winning 85-90 in Andorra, with Brandon Childress sealing the game with a three-pointer.
A Rough Welcome
MoraBanc came out firing. Back-to-back three-pointers from Chumi Ortega and another from Kassius Robertson built that early 14-2 lead, and Diego Epifanio's team was overwhelmed on both ends of the floor: poor offensive decisions and a defense that couldn't stop anything.
The deficit reached 24-11, and a three-pointer from Lazar Mutic at the buzzer closed the first quarter at 27-14.
The Second Quarter Awakening
Obradoiro's response came in the second period, with a player who had history with the opponent: Felipe dos Anjos, a former MoraBanc player, scored four straight points as part of an 8-2 run to make it 29-22.
Six consecutive points from Leon Radosevic halted the momentum, but Obradoiro came back with a 10-4 run that brought them within one point (39-38). An alley-oop from Radosevic himself sent the game into halftime at 46-43.
The Third Quarter, Staying Close
After the break, Andorra regained control but couldn't open up a gap. Their largest lead was ten points (68-58), and Obradoiro responded with a strong final stretch of the quarter, capped by a three-pointer from Efe Abogidi to make it 70-65.
The Comeback Complete
The fourth quarter belonged to Obradoiro from start to finish. Six straight points from Dos Anjos made it 70-71 and completed the comeback, and back-to-back three-pointers from Leo Meindl and Yunio Barrueta made it 74-77 with 4:45 remaining.
From there, Zan Tabak's team was playing catch-up. Joel Soriano dominated the paint and a three-pointer from Childress sealed the 85-90 victory.
The Numbers
Childress led the way with 18 points, 4 assists and a rating of 20. Soriano posted 15 points, 5 rebounds and a rating of 18, while Dos Anjos and Meindl each added 12 points.
For MoraBanc, Robertson scored 15, Wes Iwundu and Artem Pustovyi each had 12 and Radosevic added 10 with a rating of 17.
Abogidi's Debut
The Nigerian center played his first official game with the club and scored 5 points, including the three-pointer that closed out the third quarter. Epifanio had warned on Thursday that he arrived with only five training sessions and had never played in Europe before.