Chris Duarte scores 11 points, but Unicaja falls to Breogán and postpones its pass to the Copa del Rey

MÁLAGA, Spain. – Dominican Chris Duarte contributed 11 points, but Unicaja Málaga couldn’t avoid the 98-82 defeat against Río Breogán, a result that prevents the Andalusian team from securing their classification to the Copa del Rey, which will be held in February in Valencia.

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The Galician team relied on a solid collective performance, led by the Balkan players Mihajlo Andric, who scored 22 points with six three-pointers, and Danko Brankovic, author of a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, to dominate the match from the second quarter with an intense defense and a balanced attack. Despite the setback, Unicaja remains with a record of 8-11, located in the seventh position of the Endesa League, needing one or two more victories to secure its ticket to the traditional cup tournament.

Good start from Malaga

The team led by Ibon Navarro started with great effectiveness from the perimeter, closing the first quarter with five three-pointers and an 83% success rate in long-distance shots. Driven by Olek Balcerowski and Killian Tillie, Unicaja took the first leads of the match (10-15, 12-19 and 19-25). However, Breogán reacted with the leadership of the Croatian Dominik Mavra, the work in the paint by Bakary Dibba and a notable increase in defensive intensity. A partial of 11-2 turned the scoreboard around (30-27), forcing Navarro to call a timeout.

Breogán sets the pace

Although Unicaja tried to respond with two consecutive three-pointers from Alberto Díaz, the home team continued to punish with offensive rebounds and fast transitions, going into halftime with a lead of 50-43.

At the start of the third quarter, Breogán struck hard again. Latvian Arturs Kurucs scored eight of his team’s first ten points in the period, extending the lead to 20 points (68-48), with a dominant Andric on both sides of the court.

Insufficient reaction attempt

Unicaja managed to get closer with the drive of veteran Augustine Rubit and outside accuracy, but misses on open shots —including two three-pointers by Alberto Díaz and Chris Duarte— prevented a greater comeback. After a new reaction attempt (75-60), Breogán sentenced the match with three consecutive triples from Andric and Mavra, after a technical foul sanctioned to coach Navarro, leaving the score 85-69 with five minutes remaining, without a final response from the visiting team.