FC Barcelona defeated Valencia Basket 98-94 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday, October 30, with Justin Robinson scoring 22 points to help the hosts overcome two absences in their backcourt. Robinson delivered the decisive plays in the final two minutes as Barcelona improved to 6-3 in the EuroLeague.
Barcelona played without point guards Juan Nunez and Umoja Gibson, leaving Robinson and Dario Brizuela to handle much of the playmaking responsibility. Robinson scored 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, and finished with a team-high 23 PIR.
With less than two minutes remaining, Robinson converted a three-point play before hitting a deep three-pointer to put Barcelona ahead 93-88 with one minute left. Valencia answered through Armoni Brooks, who scored a game-high 26 points and made five three-pointers.
Kevin Punter’s two free throws restored a four-point Barcelona lead with 13.3 seconds remaining. Brooks then cut the margin to one with another three-pointer, but Brizuela secured the win after missing the second of two free throws, collecting the offensive rebound and scoring the follow-up layup with 7.8 seconds left.
Joel Parra added 19 points, while Punter finished with 18 and Brizuela scored 15. Parra made all five of his two-point attempts and five of six three-pointers, while Punter connected on three of four shots from beyond the arc.
Valencia had four other players reach double figures: Brooks led with 26, followed by Jasiel Rivero with 12, and TJ Shorts and Dylan Osetkowski with 11 each. The visitors finished with 19 assists and 39 rebounds, compared with Barcelona’s 15 assists and 36 rebounds.
The game featured 12 ties and 14 lead changes. Barcelona made 12 of 26 three-pointers (46.2%), while Valencia shot 12-of-25 (48%) from long range.
Barcelona remained undefeated against Valencia at Palau Blaugrana after seven meetings, according to the supplied game report. The result left Barcelona eighth in the standings at 6-3, while Valencia fell to fifth with the same record.
Barcelona visits Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv on Thursday, November 5. Valencia travels to face Armani Olimpia Milan on the same day.
