FC Barcelona Regal win at home; Humiliate Asseco Prokom 88-61: Euroleague Recap
Spanish champions FC Barcelona Regal, after routing Union Olimpija last week, continued from where they left off, thrashing Polish champions Asseco Prokom 88-61 in a game played at the Palau Blaugrana.
It would be unfair to assert it was totally a one sided affair as Prokom fought hard until the halfway through the second quarter. But, a 9 point run by Regal pushed them behind and they never managed to control the lead that kept
on building until the end of the game.
Barcelona displayed brilliant defense, forcing 17 turnovers and didn’t allow Olimpija’s offense to dominate at any stage in the game.
Only two Prokom players, Oliver Lafayette and Alonzo Gee, managed to penetrate through the sturdy defense of Barcelona. Oliver ended with 15 points knocking down 3 for 5 from three point range while Alonzo added 10 points.
Erazem Lorbek led Barcelona with 20 points with 7 for 9 shooting from field and 2 for 5 from downtown. Juan Carlos Navarro added 14, Marcelinho Huertas chipped in with 11 along with 5 assists whereas Chuck Eidson and Pete Mickeal
added 10 points each. Barcelona were excellent with free throws and knocked down 20 for 23 from the line.
Erazem Lorbek scored the first points of the game through a layup which was countered by a dunk from Adam Lapeta of Prokom. Barcelona kept on putting pressure on Prokom by stealing points from free throws and three pointers. At
the 6 minute mark, Barcelona were leading by 8 points at 16-8. Prokom tried to come back by scoring quick points but by the end of the quarter despite a three-pointer from Lafayette, Barcelona were still ahead by 5 points 23-18
Kosta’s spinning hook in the start of second quarter extended Barcelona’s lead to 7 points however Prokom made a comeback scoring 7 points in quick succession to level the scores at 25. Prokom held Barcelona from scoring in the
ensuing passage and at six minutes, scores were again neck to neck at 33.
There was not much to differentiate between both teams until the last two minutes of the quarter. However things changed rapidly, as Regal pulled off a 9 point run to extend their lead to 13 points 47-34. Barcelona were leading
47-36 at half time.
Barcelona showed solid defense in the third quarter allowing Prokom to score only 10 points and continued scoring through free throws. They managed to amass a healthy 18 point lead by the end of third quarter and effectively sealed
the game.
Things only got worse for Prokom as they had no answers to Regal’s mighty offense who extended their lead to humungous 28 points in first five minutes, with scores at 81-53. Prokom managed to score 8 more points in the remaining
5 minutes and their misery finally ended when the final buzzer rang at 88-61.
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