By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
Barça has been focusing on Liga Endesa for a while now and today’s game was crucial for the only competition left for the team. After the defeats of UCAM Murcia and Valencia Basket, the blaugrana team needed a victory to avoid the fourth place (and having to deal with Real Madrid in semifinals) and the team delivered.
But right before the match, the club announced that Will Clyburn had a health issue that requieres him to stay sidelined for at least four weeks, joining Jan Vesely, Nico Laprovittola, Tomas Satoransky and Nikola Kusturica in the non-available players list.
Despite this scenario, it was a solid win for the Catalans against Dreamland Gran Canaria (91-69) to jump to a 20-9 record. The team coached by Che Garcia stays with 9-20, just one victory away of relegation.
Kevin Punter had an amazing game and finished as the top scorer of the game thanks to his 23 points. Toko Shengelia also shone, scoring 14 easy points, while Youssoupha Fall added 17.
Kassius Robertson (14) and Chimezie Metu (10), the only double digit scoring players for the away team.
It was a very easy win for Barça, that after closing the first quarter 29-20, kept extending the lead as minutes passed. Starting the second half 48-34 was only the beggining of the local domination: Barça’s lead got as big as 24 points and the game basically ended at the third quarter.
This morning, Valencia Basket lost the third game of the week after seeing BAXI Manresa being able to hold the lead in the last minute. Different story for Real Madrid, as the blancos completed a perfect week with three wins thanks to Mario Hezonja’s historic performance.
Kosner Baskonia grabbed an also important victory against Río Breogán 112-84, also jumping to a 20-9 balance.
Liga Endesa Round 29
San Pablo Burgos – Hiopos Lleida 99-91
La Laguna Tenerife – Morabanc Andorra 89-90
Basquet Girona – Casademont Zaragoza 90-81
Asisa Joventut – Unicaja de Málaga 53-33 (SUSPENDED)
BAXI Manresa – Valencia Basket 104-102
Real Madrid – UCAM Murcia 131-123
Surne Bilbao – Coviran Granada 88-83
Kosner Baskonia – Río Breogán 112-84
Barça – Dreamland Gran Canaria 91-69
STANDINGS: Real Madrid 26-3, Valencia Basket 21-8, UCAM Murcia 21-8, Barça 20-9, Kosner Baskonia 20-9…