Barcelona Regal sweep Unics Kazan; Become the first team to qualify for Final Four: Euroleague Recap
On Tuesday night, FC Barcelona Regal became the first team to qualify for the last four of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague.
Up against the Eurocup champions, Unics Kazan from Russia, in the third game of the best of five playoffs series, the Spanish giants started slowly and trailed by as many as 10 points deep into the second quarter. Blaugrana roared
back in the second half though and after taking a one point lead by the end of the third, they pulled away with a 10-0 run in the last quarter to seal a 67-56 win and a berth in the Final Four for the 12th time in the franchise history.
Barca were led by 21 points from Juan Carlos Navarro. No other Spanish player managed double scoring but Marcelinho Huertas scored all of his 9 points in the game changing 4th quarter. Navarro was happy to pass the final
hurdle enroute to the last four;
"We expected a difficult road game against Unics, since we played two tough games in Barcelona. We were sure that the game in Kazan wouldn’t be easy at all. We changed our minds in the second half and managed to play much better
than the first half and won the game."
For Unics this is the end of the road in this year’s championship. They were beaten by Barcelona 5 times this season, playoffs included, and while they will feel unlucky to be pitched against such a consistent and powerful outfit,
they will certainly have to ponder on their weaknesses, especially late in the game.
On the night, they were paced by the ever reliable Henry Domercant, who dropped 19 points. He knocked down a three early to get Unics going with a 5-0 lead and then into the fourth minutes of the game, he drilled another missile
from distance to hand Unics a 10-4 advantage. Terrell Lyday also chipped in with 12 for Unics, who had the home court advantage.
Keyed by two triples from Navarro however, Barcelona fought right back, his second one giving the visitors a 15-14 edge. Kazan managed to end the first quarter with a 19-17 lead and after facing some resistance early, they sprinted
to an 11-3 run to take a 32-22 lead. They were well on their way to finish the half with a 9 point lead but a late three from Erazem Lorbek slashed that to six, 34-28.
Barca carried the momentum in the second half, starting it on an 11-4 run to take a one point lead. Despite some consistent offensive pressure from Kazan, they managed to hold on to that lead and then quashed any hopes of a Unics
win with a 10-0 run early in the fourth. Fran Vazquez and Chuck Eidson scored all points in that run that pushed the scores to 50-60.
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