Surne Bilbao Basket claimed the opening game of the San Pablo Burgos Trophy with a 72-79 road victory at the Coliseum in front of 2,543 spectators. The hosts mounted a comeback after falling thirteen points behind, but ultimately fell short against Bilbao's accuracy and superior bench depth in the decisive minutes.
How It Played Out
Bilbao started strong, though San Pablo stayed competitive from three-point range and closed the first quarter ahead (22-18). Then Jaume Ponsarnau's squad shifted into high gear: from 24-21, they went on a run to reach 24-37 that essentially decided the game.
Porfi Fisac's team had to respond and did so with DJ Steward leading the charge, cutting the deficit to five by halftime (37-42). After the break, the teams traded baskets, with the Burgos squad displaying offensive prowess, but Bilbao was more efficient and made better use of their deeper rotation down the stretch.
The Standouts
Aleix Font led the visiting scorers with 15 points, followed by Harald Frey (11), Bastien Vautier and Nate Darling (10 each). It's a distribution that speaks volumes: seven Bilbao players scored five points or more, the perfect illustration of their bench depth advantage.
For San Pablo Burgos, DJ Steward posted 17 points and Sekou Doumbouya added 12 in one of his first games as a Burgos player, following his signing announced earlier this month. Chris Sengfelder contributed 10 and Rubén Guerrero chipped in 9.
Two Takeaways from the Preseason Opener
For Bilbao, this is their second summer victory after beating Alega Cantabria in Laredo, where scoring was also distributed among many players. Their Liga Endesa debut comes at home against Manresa, and this season they'll have ten open games on ETB1.
For Burgos, the key storyline is Doumbouya. The former 15th pick in the 2019 Draft arrived after averaging 19.7 points and 8.4 rebounds in the Japanese league, and his performance will largely determine the team's ceiling.