By Alex Molina / info@eurohoops.net
Barça has signed Xavi Pascual, but Oscar Orellana is doing an amazing job so far and got the second win as head coach.
The blaugrana team defeated Virtus Bologna 88-81 to jump to a 7-4 record, while the Italian side stays at 5-6.
Kevin Punter was Barça’s top scorer, finishing the game with 17 points. Jan Vesely (12p. 6r.) and Will Clyburn (13 p.) also played a huge role in the victory.
As usual, Carsen Edwards was the go-to man in Ivanovic’s offensive plans, but he ended up scoring 13 points. It was Matt Morgan who was Virtus’ top scorer, with 17 points.
After a very close first half (45-43), which ended with a crazy midcourt triple from Kevin Punter, everything was decided in the fourth quarter.
Starting the last ten minutes with a decent lead on the scoreboard (69-61) was of no use for the guests.
Joel Parra nailed two consecutive three-pointers to give back the lead to Barça, a sequence that looked like what happened all game long -no team being able to escape from the other- but ignited the home side’s reaction.
Barcelona’s run extended to 16-0, ending with the score being 77-69, which was vital for the win.
Despite the big gap under less than two minutes for the end of the game, Virtus didn’t give up and got as close as three points (83-80), but Clyburn sealed the deal with a big shot.