Spanish Liga Endesa Round 18 Roundup

There were very few surprises in Round 18 of the regular season in the Spanish Liga Endesa, but there was no lack of excitement. Most of the favored teams found success, some at home and some on the road. One surprising result in the round was the upset of FC Regal Barcelona by Laboral Kutxa Vitoria. Laboral Kutxa hosted Barca in Baskonia and came up with a convincing 103-94 victory. Baskonia found their offensive rythmn that night. The 103 points they put up was the most scored by any team in the league during the round. The red and black shirts bombarded their opponents from beyond the arc, converting 11-of-20 three-point shots. The loss drops Barca down to 12-6. They sit in fifth place and are only one game ahead of the recently streaking Valencia Basket (11-7). Laboral Kutxa is now at an even 9-9 and is just outside of the Top 8, in ninth place.

FC Barcelona has been known to be inconsistent evert now and then, but they should find a way to get more focused. Not to take anything away from Baskonia’s impressive outside shooting, Barca was not quite sharp enough when it came to their perimeter defense.

Unicaja Malaga still retains the league leadership with an exciting win over MoraBanc Andorra, 74-77. Real Madrid and FIATC Joventut Badalona both bagged wins of their own and sit comfortably in second and third places, respectively. Real Madrid came up with a road win over Gran Canaria 2014, 80-88; while FIATC Joventut took care of business on their home turf against visiting CAI Zaragoza, 73-67.

Fourth-placer Bilbao Basket (13-5) sailed smoothly passed 17th-ranked Fuenlabrada, 85-91. The win on the road is part of a spread of relatively easy games on their schedule. Alex Mumbru caught fire for Bilbao and he drained 6-of-10 shots from downtown to finish with a team-high 22 points. Andy Panko was the lone bright spot for Fuenlabrada with his game-high 29 points. No other teammate joined him in scoring in double figures.

Both UCAM Murcia (8-10) and Rio Natura Monbus Obradoiro CAB (8-10) both slid down in the league standings. after suffering losses on the road. They are now in 11th and 12th place, respectively. UCAM Murcia was crushed by Valencia Basket 81-63. Rio Natura Monbus was manhandled La Bruixa d’Or at Manresa 78-59. The upset win by La Bruixa d’Or improves their record t 5-13 and moves them up to 15th place in the league.

Round 18 is now in the books and there are more exciting and entertaining games are yet to come!