Murcia breaks its scoring record with 125 points

The basketball of the Endesa League left a weekend filled with contrasts, where UCAM Murcia shone brightly by reaching 125 points, their highest score in the 29 seasons they have been in the competition. The Murcian university team displayed overwhelming basketball against Ilerna Lleida, which could hardly put up any resistance in a game where the difference became evident from the very first minutes.

The Murcian dominance was total and overwhelming. An initial run of 14-2 left the score at 16-7 with a spectacular 3/3 in three-pointers for the Murcians. Dylan Ennis scored one of them, while Howard Sant-Roos, who would become the star of the first half, added two more and already reached 11 points. Gerard Encuentra called a timeout, but UCAM's offensive rhythm did not drop one bit. Michael Forrest and Sander Raieste continued to build the local lead until it reached a very significant 24-11.

Sant-Roos, the differential factor in the first half

The player from Havana was the true protagonist of the first 20 minutes. Sant-Roos went into halftime with 22 points, having missed only one perimeter shot, with an impressive 5/6 from beyond the 6.75-meter line, and 5 rebounds that gave him a valuation of 27 credits. His influence was so decisive that it allowed UCAM Murcia to build a 21-point lead in the second quarter, with the score at 60-38. Kur Kuath tried to stop the bleeding with a three-pointer at the end of the first period, but it was insufficient.

Ilerna Lleida tried to compete with its seven points from Zach Perrin, but the pace set by the Murcians was simply unreachable. The Catalan team could not find simultaneous defensive and offensive answers. The maximum lead reached 21 points, a chasm that seemed impossible to cross. Before the break, the score reflected a 60-40 that seemed definitive.

Forrest and the record final quarter

If Sant-Roos was responsible for building the lead, Michael Forrest was the one who sealed it with authority in the final stretch. The Murcian forward had a spectacular fourth period in which his team scored 40 points, the same as Ilerna in the entire second half. Forrest was the main executor of this offensive festival, with 22 points on the final scorecard that made him the second-highest scorer on the team after Sant-Roos.

UCAM Murcia reached 72-59 in the third quarter after a 2+1 from Mark Hughes trying to keep Ilerna alive. Jonah Radebaugh added a three-pointer that left the score at 85-65 at the end of that period, but the true avalanche came in the last ten minutes. With the 40 points scored in the final quarter, the Murcians reached 125, thus surpassing the previous record of 123 points they had achieved after overtime in a lost match 131-123 against Real Madrid.

Ilerna Lleida did not completely give up. With James Batemon and Melvin Ejim trying to sustain the attack, they managed to cut the deficit to 13 points in the final stretch (95-82 with six minutes left to play). They even kept hope alive with a 99-87 two minutes later, but the Murcian superiority was too evident. With this victory, UCAM Murcia leveled its record to three wins and three losses, while Ilerna Lleida stayed at 1-5 with five consecutive setbacks.

Zaragoza overwhelms Girona with a three-point barrage

If the Murcia game was dominant, the one between Casademont Zaragoza and FIATC Girona was downright devastating. The Aragonese won 107-78, a victory that was practically decided in the first quarter when Girona could not meet the required level. The Catalan team only stood for the first ten minutes, but even then, they were unable to keep up with Zaragoza's pace.

Jaworski was the initial architect of the local advantage. The Aragonese point guard reached 15 points with a spectacular 3/3 in three-pointers in just three attempts, leaving the score at 36-30 after his third success from distance. Robert Blumbergs, Guillem Vives, and Bell-Haynes added three more three-pointers that took the locals to a nine-point lead (46-37). Zaragoza had a 54% success rate in three-pointers (7/13) while Girona barely reached 19% (2/14).

The visitors tried to maintain competitiveness thanks to their power in the paint, with a 31-28 in the first minutes, but the rain of Aragonese three-pointers was decisive. At halftime, Zaragoza was winning 48-40 after a first half where the team gradually displayed effectiveness from the perimeter.

The second half was a nightmare for Girona. Zaragoza pulled away to 16 points after successive three-pointers by Bell-Haynes and Miguel González (62-46), then to 18 with eight consecutive points from Vives (74-57) and finally to 19 after another three-pointer from Nico Brussino (78-59). N'Guessan and McClung tried to support Girona, but their team was struggling with three-point shooting (4/22, 18%) while Zaragoza was close to 58%. The third quarter ended with a 78-60 that seemed definitive, and indeed it was. Vives was excellent in the second half, leading his team to a final victory that reached a 30-point difference (107-77).

Leyma Coruña comes back in an epic finish

If the first two victories were a matter of clear dominance, the triumph of Leyma Coruña against Laguna Tenerife was pure emotion. The Galicians won 93-89 in a game where they were about to lose, but they found a way to come back spectacularly in the last quarter.

Laguna Tenerife controlled a good part of the game thanks to the leadership of Marcelinho Huertas, who took the reins of the Tenerife attack to give his team an eight-point lead at halftime (39-47). After the break, the aurinegra team dominated with advantages around ten points, taking advantage of Coruña's defensive problems, which quickly fell into foul trouble and struggled to secure rebounds on their own basket.

Alonzo Verge was the key factor in the Galician comeback. The forward came into action in the third quarter to prevent Tenerife from breaking the game, and although the La Laguna team maintained their lead until the start of the final period, a 5-0 run at the start brought the Galicians closer (69-73). The aurinegra team's problems securing rebounds gave Coruña second chances, which they narrowed to just three points (81-84) with four minutes remaining after two consecutive three-pointers from Latvian center Karlis Silins.

Lakovic called a timeout, but Coruña got stuck on offense and two three-pointers briefly rejuvenated Tenerife. The exchange of blows continued until there was one minute left, and the oranges led by 3 (89-86). A three-pointer from Van Beck after an offensive rebound tied the game, but Alonzo Verge closed his spectacular night with a decisive basket that ensured the victory. The subsequent miss from Hunter and the two free throws made by Caio Pacheco sealed the Galician win in a movie-like finish.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Murcia rompe su récord anotador con 125 puntos