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oct 11 2026At 43 years old, Marcelinho Huertas continues to be the player who decides games for La Laguna Tenerife. Huertas needed just 22 and a half minutes on the court to post 19 points and a game-high 24 efficiency rating, leading his team to a 77-90 victory in Murcia. It was a comfortable win in one of the Copa del Rey contenders' matchups. A week after winning in Málaga, Jaka Lakovic's squad claimed another road victory and improved to 2-1.
The achievement is even more impressive considering the roster situation. Lakovic lost Giorgi Shermadini and TJ Bamba late, two important pieces of his rotation. It didn't show. La Laguna Tenerife controlled the game from start to finish and never allowed UCAM Murcia to take the lead.
A start that set the tone
The home team started cold. Michael Forrest, in the starting lineup for Sito Alonso, went to the bench after just four minutes with the score at 2-5. La Laguna Tenerife capitalized on the drought to pull away, and a three-pointer by Arturs Kurucs, in his return to his former team's court, forced the Murcia coach to call timeout at 5-14. UCAM responded enough to close the first quarter within three (13-16), with a three-pointer by Howard Sant-Roos that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. It was his first basket of the season, in his debut after recovering from injury.
In the second quarter, the contenders stayed close for only a short time. Bruno Fitipaldo connected on back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead again. Jean-Marc Pansa answered in the paint and brought the Murcians closer (20-24), but Tenerife's team basketball opened the gap once more. A three-pointer by Huertas and a technical free throw on Sito Alonso made it 22-33. With a 5-for-8 stretch from three-point range, La Laguna Tenerife led by as much as 14 (28-42) and went into halftime up 33-44.
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Murcia's comeback fell short by five
UCAM Murcia took another blow shortly after the restart: Juani Marcos left the game with discomfort after just six minutes on the court, another absence for a team already playing without point guard Souley Boum. Without the Argentine playmaker, the home team raised the intensity and got within five (55-60 and 57-62). La Laguna Tenerife responded with experience and scored the last two baskets of the quarter, the second a layup by Jaime Fernández at the buzzer, to enter the final quarter up 57-66.
That's where the game was decided. Kyle Guy scored five straight points, Héctor Alderete added four more, and with five minutes left, the lead was already 14 (63-77). Pansa's fifth foul, UCAM's leading scorer with 13 points, came at 65-80 with four minutes remaining, leaving the Murcians without their main inside presence. Guy (15) and Hunter (16) joined Huertas in the scoring for a team that, despite injuries and playing on the road, has already sent two serious warnings in a week.
