Reyer held Manresa to just 26 points after halftime as RJ Cole scored a career high 25
Reyer locks up playoff berth with dominant second half in Manresa
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 17 of 18
Regular Season
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BAXI ManresaMAN
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Umana Reyer VeniceURV
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Overview
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Umana Reyer Venice put together a strong defensive stand in the second half to slow down BAXI Manresa and book a spot in the playoffs.
Reyer allowed only 26 points over the final 20 minutes in a 75-91 road victory for its sixth win in the last seven games to improve to 10-7 and earn a ticket to the postseason.
“I have to congratulate our guys for an amazing effort in the second half. We understood that we could not win the game if they score another 50 points in a half. Manresa is playing an amazing basketball - so much pace, so much aggressiveness on both ends of the court. Today they finished the game with 75 points, which is not usually the case for Manresa,” said Reyer head coach Neven Spahija.
“It was a very important victory because now we are 2-0 over Manresa and that means a lot for the standings.”
Manresa came into the game having scored 96.2 points over the last eight games - seven of them wins. But Manresa could not get control of Reyer guard RJ Cole, who scored a career-high 25 points with 5 assists. Kyle Wiltjer poured in 15 points, Carl Wheatle had 13 points and Amedeo Tessitori and Denzel Valentine both chipped in 11 points and combined for 17 rebounds and 5 steals.
“We just had a will to win today. We knew how hard it is to win on the road. But we stayed together no matter what was going on out there and we just trusted one another,” said Cole, whose previous scoring high was 20 points. “It was an important win. We knew what was at stake. We stayed together and found a way to get the win.”
The first quarter was tight with 4 points being the biggest lead with three lead changes and four ties, including it being knotted 24-24 after 10 minutes.
Alex Reyes drained 2 three-pointers in an 11-0 Manresa run to pull ahead 39-31 and another Reyes triple made it 47-37. The visitors finished the first half strong and trailed 49-47 at the break. Reyer put together a 3-10 spurt to build a 57-63 lead, but the game was deadlocked at 66-66 after 30 minutes.
Reyer made 2 triples to start the fourth quarter and then Cole sparked the deciding run with the first 9 points of a 0-15 surge to blow the game open 71-87.
Manresa entered the game with four straight wins but now is 10-7 despite Retin Obasohan scoring 17 points and Reyes finishing with 13 points.
“It was clear. They played much better than us. They moved the ball. We were not able to take advantage in the final 5 minutes because their defense killed us. We were not able to create, to pass the ball, to keep it moving. The same with the rhythm. We didn’t play fast break today. They played much better than us,” said Manresa head coach Diego Ocampo.
