Lenovo Tenerife lost at home to Baskonia in a new round of the ACB League. Bruno Fitipaldo’s team launched a new sponsor in his name.
On the 23rd date of the Endesa League, Lenovo Tenerife and Baskonia faced each other. The former came from defeating MoraBanc Andorra away from home, while their rival on duty came from beating Zaragoza at home. Those led by Txus Vidorreta presented a quintet made up of Bruno Fitipaldo, Sasu Salin, Aaron Doornekamp, Tyler Cavanaugh and Fran Guerra. For their part, those led by Dusko Ivanovic began with Luca Vildoza, Rokas Giedraitis, Tadas Sedekerskis, Achille Polonara and the Nigerian Tonye Jekiri.
The meeting held at the Santiago Martín Sports Pavilion presented a fairly balanced start in which both teams tried to capture their main offensive attributes in the rectangle. The local cast hurt in the painted area with Aaron Doornekamp and Fran Guerra, while the visiting team hurt with Achille Polonara’s medium and long-range shots. With a couple of consecutive bombs in the hands of the Italian and Alec Peters, the Basques managed to open a six-point lead. However, at the end of the first period, the islanders placed a partial of 11-2, which gave them the possibility of taking control. During this period, Emir Sulejmanovic and Giorgi Shermadini came off the bench. Thanks to the support of Luca Vildoza and Rokas Giedraitis, the current champions prevented their rival from escaping.
At the beginning of the second half, the owner of the house was in front of the electronic by 42 to 38. In the first bars of the complement, the best version of those from Vitoria-Gasteiz could be observed, which, thanks to the Argentine Vildoza, managed to pass leading the score. The reaction of the Canaries was swift, adjusting some pieces in defense and finding a goal through Bruno Fitipaldo and Santiago Yusta. With Doornekamp and Shermadini as the main offensive exponents, those led by Txus Vidorreta got a five-point income, which seemed to be heading for the victory. However, those of Dusko Ivanovic did not give up and with the Lithuanian Giedraitis as standard bearer, they balanced the actions again. In the closing it could be for anyone, since after a double by Pierria Henry, Tenerife could win it twice, one of them with an open triple by Marcelinho Huertas. The ball did not enter and the victory went to Baskonia by 81-79.
In the winner, the figure of the Italian Achille Polonara stood out, who scored 19 points and grabbed 7 rebounds, well supported by Luca Vildoza with 15 points. On the loser’s side, Giorgi Shermadini finished as the top scorer with 17 points.
Uruguayan point guard Bruno Fitipaldo scored 11 points (1/4 triples, 3/5 doubles and 2/2 free), captured 1 rebound, distributed 6 assists, stole 3 balls and received 4 fouls in the 22:41 minutes he was on the court , with a total rating of 16.
The next commitment of the former Malvín team will be on Thursday, when for the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey they will have to face San Pablo Burgos, at the WiZink Center in the city of Madrid.
Photo: Emilio Cobos