Mario Hezonja might have been on fire from behind the arc, but it was a telling triple from Brad Oleson that helped Barcelona to an 85-80 win over Real Madrid in Group E of the Euroleague Top 16.
In a back-and-forth encounter that saw 11 ties in 38 minutes, it was Oleson that landed the killer blow, as he drained a three with 34 seconds left to hand the hosts an 85-78 lead and put the game to bed.
Both teams now move to 10-3 records in the group, but crucially, Real Madrid own the head-to-head due to their 25-point win earlier in the Top 16 phase so they stay top, and Real can win the group if they beat Zalgiris in their final game next week.
If they lose then Barcelona can snatch top if they beat Galatasaray in Istanbul next week.
“Even when we had a cold start, with ups and downs, I think we played a good game in general terms,” said Barca coach Xavi Pascual. “I am happy with the win and above all, with our place in standings with one game left in the Top 16.”
Elsewhere in Group E, ALBA Berlin scored a huge 68-66 win away at Panathinaikos to boost their chances of a quarter-final spot.
Alex Renfroe’s tip-in gave ALBA the lead with just over a minute to play and the Germans were able to hang on for a priceless win.
Both teams now sit on 7-6 records in Group E and can both qualify if they both win next week.
Renfroe finished with 16 points and 9 assists for the winners.
ALBA will square off against Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv in a winner-takes-all clash after the Israeli giants edged already eliminated Galatasaray 81-72.
The current Euroleague champions were made to work hard by their Turkish counterparts who had nothing to play for in the competition but pride. Maccabi though stuck to their gameplan and a 10-0 run, inspired by Devin Smith early in the final period steered them home.
“Not a beautiful game that people want to see,” Maccabi Electra coach Guy Goodes said. “We didn’t play well in first half, also in the second half offensively, we didn’t move the ball as we needed to. I don’t know if its tiredness or something else, but in the end the key was to win the game and I’m happy we did it. ”
Smith led Maccabi with 22 points, while Kerem Gonlum paced Galatasaray with 18.
Laboral Kutxa are still in the hunt for a last eight spot after ending Fenerbahce’s nine-game unbeaten run 93-76.
The Liga Endesa side, playing with their Euroleague futures showed fantastic grit and determination against the competition’s form team and it was a convincing win.
Mike James led the winners with 19 points. Fernando San Emeterio, Darus Adams and Fabien Causeur each scored 15 for Laboral as they move to 6-7.
Fenerbahce are already assured of a quarter-final spot despite the loss.
Already eliminated Unicaja Malaga made sure they took Nizhny Novgorod with them after a comprehensive 94-75 success in Russia.
Mindaugas Kuzminskas led the winners with 18 points on 4/4 three-point shooting. Both teams though are out of the Euroleague with respective 3-10 records in Group F.