Flexicar Fuenlabrada Dominates Palmer Basket Mallorca 87-67 in Crucial Playoff Push

The final March game at the Fernando Martín arena featured a crucial matchup in Matchday 27 of Primera FEB. Palmer Basket Mallorca, coached by Juani Díez, visited Flexicar Fuenlabrada, coached by Iñaki Martín.

For the home team, this game was a final opportunity to stay in the playoff race. Meanwhile, the Balearic squad needed a road victory to avoid falling further behind in their fight to remain in the league.

The game started with an unusual lineup change for Flexicar Fuenlabrada, with Daniil Stobleskiy starting as the center. He played excellent minutes, particularly on defense and helping against Philip Scrubb. This intense early defense was key, as both teams struggled to score initially. Duda Sanadze scored the first points, but the small forward didn't play much longer, suffering back pain at the 6-minute mark. The first quarter ended with low scoring: 16-16.

The second quarter gave the advantage to the Balearic team coached by Juani Díez, 19-21. Iñaki Martín's team was having trouble scoring, especially from two-point range where they shot 2/12. The home team stayed afloat thanks to three-pointers from Mateo Díaz and Vítor Benite, combined with strong defense and help defense on Phil Scrubb that completely shut him down. There was a wild finish with four consecutive three-pointers exchanged to close the quarter 38-39.

The second-half restart brought a dominant Flexicar Fuenlabrada, starting the third quarter with an 11-3 run led by the reliable Vítor Benite (49-42). It was a very solid quarter for Iñaki's team both defensively and offensively, closing with a 28-10 run that would decide the game in their favor. Palmer Basket Mallorca looked overwhelmed without their key player, Philip Scrubb, who was completely neutralized by Dani Manchón's defense and Iñaki's tactical approach of setting traps and double teams whenever he touched the ball.

The game continued with the same dynamic in the fourth quarter. Juani Díez's team appeared to have solved their offensive problems, but the lead was already too large to threaten a Fuenlabrada team backed by their incredible fans (77-63). The crowd supported the team as always, despite reduced attendance due to Easter holidays. Romaric Belemene hit a three-pointer to make it 84-65, and with that shot, five players had reached double figures in scoring. Benite with 17, DeBisschops with 15, Mateo with 11, Kasibabu with 11, and Belemene with 10. With this superiority, the game ended 87-67.

With this victory, Flexicar Fuenlabrada moved further into the playoff battle and set their sights on the next two road games: Zamora and Oviedo. These are crucial matchups against direct rivals for those playoff spots. The team's coach emphasized in the post-game press conference the importance of winning at least one of them.