Leyma Coruña overturns a huge deficit to defeat Estudiantes and return to the Liga Endesa
Leyma Coruña has once again secured a place in the top tier of Spanish basketball after one of the most dramatic games of the season finale in the Primera FEB. The team from A Coruña defeated Movistar Estudiantes 100:97 after overtime in the promotion Final Four final, played on 7 June 2026 at the Coliseum de A Coruña arena. According to the official report of the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), Leyma made up a large deficit in the closing stages, forced overtime at 80:80 and completed its return to the Liga Endesa in the additional five minutes. ACB stated in its report that Carles Marco’s team erased a 15-point deficit in the final six minutes and then opened overtime with a run that decided the game. For Estudiantes, the defeat is especially painful because the Madrid club was very close to returning to the elite, but it will once again have to seek its path through the second division.
- Game: Movistar Estudiantes – Leyma Coruña 97:100 after overtime
- Competition: Primera FEB, Final Four for entry into the Liga Endesa
- Venue: Coliseum de A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain
- Date: 7 June 2026
- Top scorers: Omar Silverio 30 for Estudiantes, Paul Jorgensen 22 for Leyma
A final decided only in overtime
From the start, the final had the rhythm of a game in which the stakes were greater than the usual importance of the score. According to ACB data, the first quarter ended with a very low 6:12 in favor of Leyma, showing how much defense and early nervousness marked the opening ten minutes. After a slow start, Estudiantes found its offensive rhythm in the second and third quarters, mainly through Omar Silverio and Jayson Granger, and held a 65:57 lead before the final period. During that stretch, Leyma had difficulty defending the Madrid team’s perimeter line, but it did not drift away from the game thanks to its inside play, rebounding and occasional three-pointers that kept it within reach. Although Estudiantes moved ahead 75:60 in the closing stages, according to the ACB report, that lead was not enough to close out the game.
The key part of the contest began when Leyma, in front of its home crowd, stopped relying exclusively on three-point shooting and began increasing its defensive aggression. In its chronicle of the final, ACB states that Estudiantes conceded a 5:28 run in the closing stages of regulation and at the start of overtime, which completely changed the course of the game. Paul Jorgensen took responsibility on offense, Caio Pacheco hit an exceptionally important three-pointer for 80:80, and Estudiantes failed to use its final possessions in regulation to avoid overtime. In its official report, FEB particularly emphasized that Leyma first forced the additional period and then completed the comeback through Jorgensen and Pacheco. Overtime thus became the space in which the team from A Coruña had more energy, clearer decisions and a calmer finish.
Jorgensen and Pacheco led the comeback, Silverio was not enough for Estudiantes
Paul Jorgensen was the central figure in Leyma’s comeback, and FEB named him the MVP of the game. In its statistical review, ACB states that the American guard finished the contest with 22 points, while Caio Pacheco added 18 and had one of the most important roles in the closing stages. Leyma also received significant contributions from Dídac Cuevas with 12 points, Ilimane Diop with 13 and Jacobo Díaz with 12, confirming that the victory did not rest on just one individual spark. Especially important was the start of overtime, in which, according to ACB, Leyma produced a 0:8 run and forced Estudiantes to chase the score at a moment when the psychological advantage had already shifted to the Final Four host. In the closing stages of the extra period, Pacheco also converted a 2+1 play that stopped the Madrid club’s last major attempt.
Despite the defeat, Estudiantes had very strong individual performances. Omar Silverio scored 30 points and was the most dangerous offensive player on Toni Ten’s team, while Jayson Granger added 17 points and took control of the rhythm of the game in certain stretches. ACB states that Lotanna Nwogbo also reached double figures for the Madrid club with 13 points, while Pato Garino, Sergi García and other players contributed during the phases in which Estudiantes built its lead. Still, in the decisive period, the team from Madrid failed to maintain offensive stability. After leading by 15, every turnover and every missed open shot further increased the pressure, and Leyma took advantage of that without panicked decisions.
A return to the elite only one year after relegation
For Leyma Coruña, this victory has a broader significance than the Final Four trophy itself. ACB announced that the club will return to the Liga Endesa only one year after its last appearance in the top tier of Spanish basketball. This is an important result for a project that has positioned itself in recent seasons as one of the most ambitious outside the elite league, and that has now received confirmation through the most difficult possible path, a decisive game against Estudiantes. In its preview of the final, FEB recalled that Leyma could achieve its second entry into the Liga Endesa in three seasons, this time in front of its own fans. It was precisely this context that further increased the weight of the game at the Coliseum, because the contest was not only for one result but for a return to a competitive framework that brings greater visibility, stronger opponents and different financial demands.
Leyma reached the final after defeating Súper Agropal Palencia 92:81 in the semifinal, according to FEB’s official chronicle. In that game, the team from A Coruña used the depth of its roster, rebounding dominance and the offensive output of Caio Pacheco, who was the game’s top scorer with 25 points. That semifinal performance showed that the Final Four host had enough weapons for a high-intensity two-day tournament, but the final against Estudiantes revealed another dimension of the team: the ability to survive an almost lost game. According to reports from FEB and ACB, character, defensive reaction and calmness in overtime were precisely the decisive reasons why Leyma secured the final ticket to the Liga Endesa.
Estudiantes once again remained one step away from returning
Movistar Estudiantes arrived in A Coruña with the clear goal of returning to the top tier, but once again it was left without the final step. Ahead of the final, FEB recalled that the Madrid club had already spent five years in the Primera FEB and was trying to restore the place it had held for decades in Spanish basketball. Estudiantes reached the final with a 79:71 victory over Alimerka Oviedo, in a game in which Jayson Granger, according to the FEB report, changed the momentum with three three-pointers in a short span and enabled his team to control the closing stages. In the final, Estudiantes long looked like a team that had found the formula: stronger rebounding, better ball movement and Silverio’s offensive output gave it the lead. But the finish showed how difficult it is to close out a game in which the opponent is playing in front of a home arena and with no more room for calculation.
The defeat is additionally painful because Estudiantes had a double-digit lead and a rhythm in the last quarter that suggested it was close to promotion. According to ACB, Leyma reduced the deficit gradually, while Estudiantes failed to find enough secure possessions once the game began to turn. Such endings often change the perception of an entire season: a team that reached the final confirms its quality and continuity, but a defeat after a large lead leaves the impression of a missed opportunity. For a club with the history and fan base that Estudiantes has, remaining in the Primera FEB means a new cycle of pressure, rebuilding and another attempt. From a sporting perspective, the final in A Coruña was also confirmation that fine margins in the closing stages, psychological stability and control of rhythm are often just as important as the overall quality of the roster.
The Final Four as the final filter for the second ticket to the Liga Endesa
The final tournament in A Coruña had a clear structure: four teams fought for the second and last place leading to the Liga Endesa. FEB had earlier announced that the Coliseum de A Coruña would host the 2026 Final Four and that the final would be played on 7 June at 19:00. Leyma Coruña, Movistar Estudiantes, Alimerka Oviedo and Súper Agropal Palencia played in the semifinals, and the format meant there was no room for a second chance. Such a finish increases uncertainty because one bad quarter or one short run by the opponent can erase the work of an entire season. In that sense, Leyma’s comeback against Estudiantes is not only the result of one game, but an example of how the format rewards teams that can withstand pressure and adapt quickly.
The first ticket to the Liga Endesa had already gone to Monbus Obradoiro, which, according to ACB, secured direct promotion with an 85:68 victory over Inveready Gipuzkoa in the final round of the league stage. ACB reported that Obradoiro returned to the elite tier two seasons after relegation, and the same report states that the club finished first in the Primera FEB regular season. Leyma, on the other hand, reached the elite through the playoffs and the Final Four, thereby filling both promotion places. That outcome means that Spanish basketball will have two returnees from Galicia for the 2026/27 season, and Leyma confirmed its entry on the court in front of a crowd that turned the Final Four into one of the most important sporting events in the city that weekend.
What the victory means for Leyma and next season
Promotion to the Liga Endesa brings Leyma sporting prestige, but also a more demanding level of planning. The club will have to assemble a roster for a competition in which every mistake in player selection and budget decisions is punished more quickly than in the second division. According to ACB, Leyma last participated in the top tier in the 2024/25 season, so the organization already has fresh experience with elite-level conditions. Still, returning after only one season shows that the sporting project managed to remain competitive after relegation, which is not simple in leagues where budgets, rosters and expectations change quickly. For coach Carles Marco and the club’s management, a period follows in which they will have to combine the continuity of the team that secured promotion with the necessary reinforcements for the top tier.
For the Primera FEB itself, the final was a strong advertisement for the competition, because it showed how unpredictable and emotionally demanding the path to the ACB is. A game in which Estudiantes leads by 15, Leyma comes back to 80:80 and then wins 100:97 in overtime offers almost every element of a decisive sporting contest. According to official ACB data, the score by quarters and overtime was 6:12, 28:24, 31:21, 15:23 and 17:20, which clearly shows how Leyma found an answer in the final fifteen minutes of play after a poor third period. That is also the most important message of the final: a team that at one point looked far from returning to the elite ended the evening as a new member of the Liga Endesa. Estudiantes, on the other hand, will have to rebuild the path toward a goal that slipped away from it in A Coruña in the final possessions.
Sources:
- Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) – official chronicle of the Movistar Estudiantes – Leyma Coruña final and basic statistical data from the game (link)
- ACB / EFE – detailed report on the final, the movement of the score, overtime and scorers (link)
- ACB – confirmation that Leyma Coruña won the final promotion place and is joining Monbus Obradoiro in the Liga Endesa (link)
- Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) – schedule and format of the Primera FEB Final Four in A Coruña (link)
- Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) – report on Leyma Coruña’s semifinal victory over Súper Agropal Palencia (link)
- Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) – report on Movistar Estudiantes’ semifinal victory over Alimerka Oviedo (link)
- ACB – report on Monbus Obradoiro’s direct entry into the Liga Endesa after the Primera FEB regular season (link)