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Like that lazy student who advances only on the basis of cheats, who leaves everything for the last day and only peels his elbows when he really sees the danger of failing, Basketball Girona has lost (79-86) this afternoon a derby against Manresa that had to be decisive to definitively put permanence back on track. Ja are six defeats in the last seven games and, sadly, the feeling is that there are fewer and fewer arguments to hold on to. At the beginning of the year, Girona reacted, but since the stoppage of the Cup and the FIBA matches, it is again a soul in pain, no matter how sad I know how to say it. today those ofAito they are late again They were always behind, they lost by 17 (35-52) and when they wanted to get there, they weren’t there in time. A first quarter where Girona and Manresa competed in errors (1/8 Girona and 0/10 Manresa in triples, to give an example) is the most obvious proof. Lost balls, mistakes under the basket, and a Girona team that in the first five minutes had only scored three points (a three-pointer from Columbus), and that closed the half with a narrow tie at 12. The drama worsened later, when in the second half things went even worse. At the start, Manresa put in everything that had gone wrong before and between Robinson, Pérez and Jou they signed a partial 2-10 (14-22) which Aíto had to cut seven minutes before the break. The Girona players have been shipwrecked bravely, without a leader, lost in defense and even more so in attack, which is nothing new either. Jou, with 2+1, has placed the maximum advantage for Manresa (19-31), who dominated the rebound as he wanted (4-11 at halftime). There was only one thing that Básquet Girona did well in these first twenty minutes, whether it was to their credit or Manresa’s demerit: to reach the break alive (33-39) when they had done everything to launch the game in a first half as bad as the day of Valencia.
That day, in the last home game, Girona showed their pride after the break and managed to equalize a 16-point deficit despite ending up losing. Today, the reaction has been scarce and, above all, it has once again arrived late. Aíto’s were alive at half-time, but in less than 4 minutes Manresa swept away the locals as they wanted. From losing by 6 to making it by 17 (35-52) conceding a 2-13 without anyone finding the ability to respond, neither on the court nor on the bench. A desert, a drama, because although the defeat does not represent anything definitive and by winning a couple more games the team will be saved, which is already a lot, there are very few arguments to encourage the fans, who continue to fill Fontajau and maybe asks for something more than chanting “Sweet Caroline” before the second half begins. But back to the game. Taylor, one of the few who tried, put the team on his back and between his push and two free throws by Figueras, Girona got back to 6 (47-53). A mirage: Waczynski, with two triples, has once again given Manresa a +15 (47-62). Sorolla, on the horn, closed the third quarter putting Girona twelve down (54-66) after taking the rebound of missed free throws by Miletic.
When Dani Pérez, from three, again gave +15 (58-73) to Manresa at 7:30 in the end, it seemed that, this time, yes, it was the final blow. But Marc Gasol, with a three-pointer (65-75) gave one last hope, and Miletic reduced the difference to -9 with a free throw (66-75) with 5.15 to go. The president has converted two more points from the personal line and the distance was already only seven (68-75) with 4.50 ahead. Columbus missed a free triple and in the next action Ferrari did not forgive from 6.75 (68-78). The Andorran point guard hit the triple right away (71-78), but Gasol missed the two he tried and two minutes from the end Manresa once again led by more than 10 points (71-82). The half a thousand fans from Manresa who were in the retractable stands celebrated with shouts of “Que boti el Nou Congost”. It was not for less. They cling to permanence and make life a little more complicated for a Girona that will be waiting for the Betis-Unicaja to know if the distance from relegation remains at three wins or is reduced to two.