Manresa overcomes 65 points from Jerusalem trio in a game behind closed doors.
Plummer provides spark as Manresa find energy without fans
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 3 of 18
Regular Season
group a
BAXI ManresaMAN
10194
Hapoel Bank Yahav JerusalemJLM
group a
Overview
w
w
l
l
l
w
Alfonso Plummer showed last season that he can take over BKT EuroCup games while playing for ratiopharm ulm. The sharpshooting guard provided the spark that BAXI Manresa needed to overcome Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem without its fans and win back-to-back EuroCup games.
Plummer drained 4 three-pointers in scoring a career-high 23 points in Manresa’s 101-94 victory over Jerusalem for a 2-1 mark in Group A.
The EuroCup debutant from Spain trailed by 13 points in the second half but rallied back into the game despite it being played behind closed doors.
“The coach said at halftime that we needed to bring the energy in the second half since we didn’t have the fans. So we needed to try to find our own energy and keep going. We just kept fighting no matter the score and we won the game,” said Plummer, who scored 17 of his points in the final 18 minutes.
Trailing 48-61 midway through the third quarter, Plummer buried two three-pointers to start a 24-10 run to claim the lead early in the final frame. He also had 3 free throws and another triple in the spurt.
The guard added 3 more foul shots with 4 minutes to play and added a final score with 73 seconds remaining for a 95-91 advantage, which proved to be the winning basket.
“Alfonso played very well and was very successful. But above all, I want to highlight his great decision-making. He played with great determination, which is what's asked of him,” Ocampo said at the post-game press conference.
Plummer is no stranger to hitting triples in the EuroCup. Last season, he knocked down at least 3 three-pointers in 10 of his 17 games. Against Jerusalem, the 28-year-old Puerto Rican also helped the team from the free throw line, making 9 of 11 foul shots.
The entire Manresa team was excellent in both of those areas. Diego Ocampo’s side connected on 10 of 21 three-pointers (47.6%) and made 33 of 40 free throws (82.5%). Manresa also finished the game with 24 assists.
“We defended much better one-on-one (in the second half). We controlled the rebounds much better and then we could run. And we moved the ball,” Ocampo said. “And for sure the three-point shots were very important for us to be more positive.”
Manresa struggled to contain Jerusalem’s trio of Justin Smith, Jared Harper and Khadeen Carrington, who each scored at least 21 points to combine for 65 points. But only five other players scored for the visitors, and just one of them had more than 6 points.
Ocampo praised his team for successfully dealing with the uncommon situation of not having fans in the Pavello Nou Congost.
“For me, the team's work is a great credit: the work of all the players, because today was a very difficult opponent and a strange situation,” he said.
“The players had a good mentality. They understood the situation. I'm very grateful for how they behaved and how they prepared themselves for a very strange game. We always play here with the stadium at full capacity, and today there was no one there. It shows a great mentality.”
And the spark from Alfonso Plummer was a major reason for that.
