Palencia Baloncesto saw off Gescam Menorca 91:76 in the ACB League on Friday evening. The hosts had already established themselves in the top three before this fixture, and they made sure to extend that position with a performance that relied on control rather than flair. By then, the gap between the sides was becoming clear.
Three wins on the bounce had given Palencia momentum, and Menorca arrived with a patchy run of late results. The visitors had lost three of their last five, including a heavy 64:81 defeat to Alicante. To be fair, they had shown resilience in some of the closer encounters, but this evening offered little room for recovery.
And here's the thing — the prediction of a home win at 62 per cent confidence proved accurate, not because of any mystical foresight but because the balance of form pointed that way. Palencia had won 25 of 32 games, while Menorca had fallen short in 15. The hosts paid for a sloppy opening when Menorca stayed within striking distance, but they closed the game out once the deficit grew beyond reach.
The visitors refused to go away, but they could not match the tempo set by Palencia's guards. Every time Menorca came for a cross they never reached, the hosts countered quickly and added to the margin. The away end never stopped, but shouts from the bench could not change the reality of the scoreboard.
What this result means is straightforward: Palencia remain third with 25 victories, while Menorca drop further from the play-off picture with 15 losses. The gap in the table will not close quickly, and the hosts have now extended their unbeaten run to eight across all competitions.
