A Decade's Wait Over: Lanus Surge Past San Isidro Back to the Elite

For most of three quarters it looked like the wrong night for a coronation. Then Lanus remembered who they were. The Granate smothered San Isidro de San Francisco in the fourth quarter, pulled away to a 67-52 win and sealed the Liga Argentina 2025/26 final 3-1 booking a return to the Liga Nacional de Basquetbol, the country's top flight, for the first time in about a decade.
The clincher, in front of 5,000 roaring fans at the Microestadio Antonio Rotili, was an ugly, nerve-soaked affair, and it was San Isidro who handled the early tension better. The Cordoba side, defending Liga Argentina runners-up and back in the final for the third time since 2018, clamped down defensively and held Lanus to a horrid 2-of-16 start from the floor. The Granate did not score for the opening six minutes until a Lucio Reinaudi (185-G-1995) three finally broke the seal, and San Isidro carried a 12-9 lead out of the first quarter.
The visitors stretched it to 18-12 early in the second before Lanus found their footing with a 14-0 burst, the steals and transition baskets that had defined their season suddenly flowing. But San Isidro punched back to take a 32-29 lead into halftime and were still in front midway through the third, up 44-39, with Manuel Lambrisca (192-G/F-1997) leading the way.
The fourth quarter belonged entirely to Lanus. With Edgar Merchant (200-PF-2002) their 30-point hero from Game 3 man-marked out of the game, others stepped up. Reinaudi took the ball and the moment in his hands, scoring eight of his 13 points in the final period. Lanus edged ahead 52-46, then ripped off the decisive separation to lead 58-48 with just over four minutes left, the point of no return for a San Isidro side that simply could no longer find the basket.
Captain Martin Franchino (201-F-1993), who has been part of this rebuild since its earliest days a decade ago, anchored the win with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Joaquin Noblega (194-F/G-1997) was named the final's standout with an all-action line of 11 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists, while Robert Whitfield and Michael Henry also reached 11. Reinaudi, celebrating his fourth career promotion to the top tier, added 13. For San Isidro, Chris Hooper (198-PF-1991, college: SFC) top-scored with 17 and Manuel Lambrisca added 14, but the runners-up were left to rue another final that slipped away.
Under coach Juan Manuel "Manu" Anglese, Lanus went 12-2 across the playoffs, and now return to the elite they left in the mid-2010s, stepping into the LNB place vacated by the relegation of historic Atenas.