The bench rescues Cáceres

Four consecutive defeats later, Cáceres regains its smile. The squad led by Roberto Blanco returned this Sunday at the Multiusos on the road to victory against Melilla (79-75) to sign the thirteenth win of the season. A sweet drink that helps the black-and-green team to keep one of the playoff spots for promotion to the ACB.

Although it was not the best game for the Extremadura team, Cáceres did recover, at least in part, its defensive identity. The locals also knew how to grow in the face of adversity in the third quarter, when Melilla had the opportunity to break the game. However, the men of the rotation, led by Manu Rodríguez (18 points), gave their chest not only to maintain, but also to recover the vital signs of the Verdinegro team.

Although the intention of Cáceres was to establish a defensive bolt at the start so as not to suffer the goals conceded in recent games, the truth is that Melilla did not have any special difficulties in desecrating the green-and-black basket in the early stages. Including a Nikola Rakocevic who finished the game with 18 points and who won a prize from beyond 6.75 meters on his second attempt. Despite the slight reaction of Cáceres through the mediation of Romaric and Mbala, Rakocevic himself, at will, drew the 13-17 with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter. Roberto Blanco’s timeout did not serve to change too much the decoration of an act that closed with 20-23.

The men from the Cáceres rotation, with the spark of Jaume Lobo, the veteran of Manu Rodríguez and the physique of Carlos Toledo, gave Cáceres its most recognizable face at the beginning of the second act, when the black-and-white staged a 10-2 run to gain an advantage on the scoreboard (30-25). However, to the sound of Chapela, Arturo Álvarez’s team managed to stay afloat in their worst moment. The black-and-white, more serious in defense than in the first 10 minutes of play, went into the break with a favorable 43-38.

Cáceres choked up offensively again at the start of a third quarter in which Melilla showed more clairvoyance. Llorca and Rakovecic hurt Roberto Blanco’s team, who once again fell behind in the electronic score (45-51). After passing Cáceres for a few fateful minutes, Duje Dukan came to the rescue of the team and Manu Rodríguez took over to put the tables (59-59) with an accurate triple to close the third quarter.

Olaizola, from the free throw line and with a subsequent good action in the paint, returned the advantage to a Cáceres who began to show defensive claw, as Carlos Toledo demonstrated with a steal that later culminated in the rival rim.

Manu Rodríguez, without any condescension, gave five points of rent (70-65) with six minutes to go. Just before going to the bench, the Argentine Mateo Díaz gave more light to the black-and-white (74-65) with five minutes to go. Not without surprises in the face of the visitor’s push, Cáceres managed their advantage to sign a definitive 79-75 that returned tranquility to the Multiusos team.