Leaders win in Andorra on return to league action

Real Madrid returned to league action after three weeks away against Morabanc Andora, to record their 20th win of the season, and remain at the top of the standings for another week. After an even first half, Chus Mateo's charges rectified their troubles with turnovers and opened up the game after the break. The Whites put on a fantastic third quarter, in which they managed to put together a 21-3 run in six minutes to seal the victory. Campazzo (14 points, 8 assists and 25 in PIR), Yabusele (18 and 23) and Tavares (14, 12 rebounds and 28) were the team's standout performers.
 
The leaders were focused, controlling the rebounding and were dominant in the paint with the Tavares-Yabusele partnership. The influence of the Cape Verdean centre in the seven minutes he was on the court was all-encompassing (6 points and 5 rebounds). Madrid built up a brisk pace of attack, with high scoring percentages and with everyone contributing. As many as seven players accounted for 26 points in the first quarter. The only hiccup was the seven turnovers, which allowed Morabanc some cheap points on the counter-attack (16-26, min.10).
 
Madrid stand strong against hosts’ pressure
The turnovers made it difficult for the Whites to get into any kind of rhythm. Also, Morabanc Andorra began to build up with a faster game, thanks to Montero and Harding, and displayed their excellent ability to recover balls. The madridistas, who were less alert in attack, with Causeur as the standout performer in the second quarter, saw their opponents head into the break up on the scoreboard (41-37).
 
Madrid came out of the dressing room with fresher ideas in attack, coinciding again with the presence of Tavares and Yabusele in the paint. However, the hosts held the lead on the strength of Andric and Harding's three-pointers. They hung on until midway through the third quarter at 52-47. This was the point at which Madrid stepped up their defensive game. They were far more aggressive at the back with excellent work from Campazzo and Llull on Montero and Harding, Deck also in the number three position, and with the centers dominating the rebounding in both hoops. In six minutes, they produced their best basketball to achieve a stunning 3-21 run that gave the Whites a 13-point lead at the end of the quarter (55-68).
 
Resilience
The league leaders displayed their resilience in the final stretch of the game. They granted Morabanc Andorra no concessions and maintained a steady and energetic tempo, which was impossible for their opponents to match, and led to the biggest gap of the game. Deck produced an exceptional second half display, alongside the three most influential players today: Campazzo, Yabusele and Tavares. Between the three of them, they racked up 76 in PIR out of 113 for the team, in a thumping victory that was sealed in the second half (70-89, min.40).

MORABANC ANDORRA-REAL MADRID STATISTICS