Data sheet:
Real Madrid suffered a 73-61 defeat as UCAM Murcia Basketball Club dominated from the start at Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia. The clash featured a 12-0 run that broke the game open late in the final period as Murcia answered every challenge with courage and belief, turning defense into decisive offense when it mattered most. (Source: Endesa Liga reports)
Madrid, who had led the Endesa League for 18 weeks, saw their advantage shrink to a single win over Unicaja de Málaga in the standings. In contrast, UCAM Murcia rose to a prominent 4th place early in the second round after a disciplined performance that included a string of strong performances against top teams at home, including victories over Barça, Baskonia, Dreamland Gran Canaria, Lenovo Tenerife, Joventut de Badalona and Baxi Manresa. (Source: League standings summaries)
The game opened with a tight contest featuring five sharp positional exchanges in a Madrid side missing several key players due to injuries. Sergio Llull, Rudy Fernández, Dzanan Musa, Edy Tavares and Vincent Poirier were unavailable, creating a challenge for the rotation and test of depth for the Whites. UCAM CB also started without Jordan Sakho following his contract termination and with the well-known absence of Simon Birgander. (Source: team rosters and injury reports)
Murcia, backed by a physically demanding five, faced a Madrid squad without a clear playmaking conductor. Howard Sant-Roos, a versatile small forward, struggled early to carve out a leadership role in a somewhat error-prone beginning that saw both sides miss a number of open looks. After more than four minutes, the scoreboard read a modest 6-5, signaling a contest that would demand sustained discipline. (Source: game flow analysis)
From there, Madrid tightened its defense and pressed with greater purpose, allowing Dylan Ennis to push the home side into an 11-5 lead before Chus Mateo called a timeout to regroup. A burst of field goals followed, including a trio of scores in the paint, as Guerschon Yabusele helped Madrid respond and ultimately finish the first stanza with a slim 19-16 edge that reflected the visitors’ resilience. (Source: play-by-play summaries)
Both teams struggled with outside shooting, while Dustin Sleva carried UCAM’s offense with 11 points by the 13th minute, keeping the visitors within striking distance. Marko Todorovic contributed a basket to widen their early advantage to 28-18, prompting Madrid to recalibrate. The late second-quarter surge saw Madrid pull back to 36-26 at halftime after trading baskets and applying pressure on defense. (Source: box score analysis)
The third quarter witnessed Ennis and Sleva maintaining a productive connection, with Site Alonso capitalizing on the momentum to push Murcia ahead to a peak of 44-29 by the 23rd minute. Real Madrid answered with a balanced attack featuring threes from Mario Hezonja, Facundo Campazzo and Fabien Causeur, supported by Yabusele’s presence inside. Madrid grabbed the chance to force a late surge when UCAM’s shot opposition tightened under pressure, turning a 46-46 tie into a strategic standoff that would determine the game’s fate. (Source: game broadcast notes)
After the quarter concluded with the contest still in the balance, Campazzo drilled a key basket and another three to swing momentum back toward Madrid. Yet the Whites could not sustain the upper hand, slipping behind by 2-3 points as UCAM maintained composure under pressure. (Source: period recap)
With the score at 52-56 in favor of Madrid, UCAM tightened its defense and forced a couple of critical stops. Ennis converted to make it 61-59 with two and a half minutes remaining, and Rodions Kurucs then nudged Murcia closer to the finish line. A similar late sequence saw Deck convert to make it 63-61 with 36 seconds left, but Madrid’s ball handling let them down in the final moments, with a costly turnover that UCAM converted on the other end. (Source: late-game narrative)
The end of the game ended in a tangle of fouls and disciplinary issues. Hezonja of Murcia received a signal for unsportsmanlike conduct, Campazzo for a coach’s technical and Causeur for a disqualifying foul. The free throws that followed produced a stretch where the score line could tilt to any side, and though Ludde Hakanson stood at the line, he failed to deliver the decisive points in the closing seconds. (Source: referee and incident reports)
Events: The match, framed as the eighteenth day of the Endesa Basketball League, drew around 7,500 spectators who filled the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia, turning the venue into a fortress even as Madrid fought to stay ahead. (Source: attendance and event notes)
Basketball data sheet details the contribution of each side. UCAM Murcia Basketball Club finished with Sant-Roos (4), Ennis (18), Rodions Kurucs (7), Sleva (14) and Moussa Diagne (4) among the top five, with Radovic, Todorovic, Hakanson and Jelínek providing balanced support. Real Madrid Basketball recorded Campazzo (15), Alocén (2), Hezonja (9) and Yabusele (14) among the top five, with Causeur (14) contributing significantly, followed by Deck (7). The evening featured a notable number of turnovers at 17, which proved costly for Chus Mateo’s squad as UCAM CB leveraged those miscues to swing momentum in the decisive stretch. (Source: official box score and post-match records)
Referees: Jordi Aliaga Solé, Juan de Dios Oyón Cauqui and Andrés Fernández Carretero. The officials completed the call on the Court with a decision that redirected the final sequence. (Source: officiating notes)
Events: The match coincided with the eighteenth day of the Endesa Basketball League, played before a robust crowd at the Palacio de los Deportes in Murcia. (Source: event review)