Great Britain’s Gaz Choudhry was named MVP twice across the weekend as he was one of five GB internationals who helped BSR Amiab Albacete claim their first ever Copa del Rey title to end another successful season for GB athletes in Spain.
Choudhry, Harry Brown, Ben Fox, Lee Manning and Kyle Marsh were all part of the history-making Albacete team who beat league champions Bidaideak Bilbao BSR in Sunday’s final after two days of intense action.
Picking-up the MVP awards in both the quarter-finals and final, Choudhry recorded 94 points, 27 rebounds and 13 assists during Albacete’s three games, as he ended the weekend as the competition’s top points scorer.
In the final, Gaz Choudhry scored a game-high 34 points as Albacete beat Bilbao 86:76, to add to the 37 and 23 points he scored in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively. His tally of 37 points against Mideba Extremadura included seven three-pointers as he finished with a weekend-high 11 maximums.
It was a complete team performance from Albacete throughout the weekend with all five British players at the centre of their historic win.
Lee Manning was again in the thick of the action at both ends of the court, scoring 47 points, including 12 in the final, while topping the rebound standings in all three games. His total of 41 rebounds at an average of 13.7 rebounds per game was the best rebound average of the weekend.
Kyle Marsh and Ben Fox both added 13 points to Albacete’s points tally in the final, while Harry Brown scored four points as his total of 12 points came thanks to one of the best points conversion rates of the weekend.
Marsh totalled 52 points across the weekend, earning the MVP award in Albacete’s semi-final victory over CD Ilunion; a fixture which saw Marsh lead the game’s points standings with 30 points. It was also a game which saw CD Ilunion’s dominance in the competition come to an end having won every edition since 2011.
Terry Bywater and Gregg Warburton did, however, ensure CD Ilunion ended their campaign with victory, scoring six and 12 points, respectively, in the 3rd/4th play-off thanks to a 76:64 win over Fundacion Aliados.
Warburton scored a team-high 15 points and Bywater nine points in the semi-final which saw Albacete claim the victory by 10 points and book their place in the final. Earlier on Saturday, Warburton top-scored in CD Ilunion’s 65:50 quarter-finals triumph over Mideba Extremadura with Warburton posting 20 points and Bywater four.
Phil Pratt and Billy Bridge were both in action for Mideba as Pratt topped the game’s standings for both assists and rebounds. Pratt, who also scored a joint team-high 14 points, recorded nine assists and nine rebounds. Bridge ended his first season back in Spain by scoring nine points.
James MacSorley’s BSR ACE Gran Canaria came close to knocking out silver medallists Bidaideak Bilbao BSR, narrowly losing 63:62 in Saturday morning’s quarter-finals. MacSorley played the full 40 minutes, and was clinical under the basket, scoring 12 points with the best two-points conversation rate of the weekend.
Abdi Jama scored eight points as Amivel lost 52:68 to Fundacion Aliados in the quarter-finals, while Lewis Edwards and Sam Mack were both in action for Amfiv in their 81:66 defeat to 2021 champions Albacete in the opening game.
With the Copa del Rey bringing to an end the 2020/21 club season, the GB athletes will now join-up with their fellow GB teammates as the countdown continues until the start of the re-scheduled Tokyo Paralympic Games (24 August-5 September 2021).
