The Spanish basketball team, led by Santi Yusta (25 points, 26 assessment credits), certified this Monday his classification for the Eurobasket 2025 after beating Slovakia 84-71 in a match that was resolved in the final stretch of the third quarter with a partial 10-1.
Slovakia required a lot of concentration due to their ability to run and punish every mistake. It is not a top-level team, but it knows how to exploit its weapons well in the inside game, where it caused problems for the national team.
Every time Spain made a growth spurt, Aramis Naglic’s team clung to the inspiration of Vladimir Brodziansky to prevent their rival from breaking the deadlock. The UCAM Murcia power forward reached the midpoint of the second quarter with 12 points, but, without rest, he faded away and Spain reached a maximum advantage of fifteen points at halftime (47-32).
It was not a brilliant game for Sergio Scariolo’s team, with no success from the three-point line (2/9 at halftime). But in moments of doubt Santi Yusta and Carlos Alocén emergeddecisive in attack. Added to this was the team’s good defensive balance in pressure.
The differences were slim (11-9, 22-20, 31-28) until Brodziansky disappeared and Slovakia accused him. In the last five minutes of the first half he only made two baskets -Timotej Malovec and Michael Fusek- and Spain did not forgive with a 16-4 run.
But as had already happened in Bratislava, The Spanish team got stuck in attack when they had it best. In four minutes he only scored one basket -Santi Yusta after a steal and his subsequent counterattack- and Slovakia began to believe in the comeback. Scariolo called a timeout (49-44), but a new triple by David Abrham pushed the score to the limit.
Paco Paz, silent until that moment, pushed, and that breath from the stands provided a boost of oxygen for the team, who had another small growth spurt thanks to a sensational Santi Yustaboth in scoring and direction.
Aramis Naglic stopped the game (59-48, min.26), but Spain, much more aggressive in defense, had already picked up cruising speed. The match seemed doomed (74-57, min.32), but another bird in attack brought back the excitement.
Slovakia was within nine (76-67) with just over four minutes remaining, forcing Scariolo to call a timeout. And Yusta appeared with another decisive triple to avoid further disappointment.