Barcelona used a strong third quarter to convincingly dispatch Panathinaikos 72-57 and improve their position in the EuroLeague to 5-5.
In what was a close game throughout the first half, Barcelona strolled clear in the third, outscoring Panathinaikos 21-9 to take a 57-40 advantage, which they never looked back.
It marked Panathinaikos coach Xavi Pascual’s return to Catalonia with a defeat as the Greek side also goes to 5-5.
“We are very happy,” Barcelona coach Georgios Bartzokas said. “It was a very important game for us after three losses in a row in the EuroLeague. Somehow, we got back and today played defence for 40 minutes. We managed the difference closing with 15 points and we managed to get this win.
“It’s very unpredictable in the EuroLeague, so every win counts. I can say were consistent for 40 minutes. We did what we needed to do, playing hard and getting the win.”
Ante Tomic scored 10 of his 16 points in the first quarter, while Aleksandar Vezenkov came off the bench for 12 and Tyrese Rice added 10 for Barcelona. James Feldeine and Nick Calathes scored 13 each for Panathinaikos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TIJrxhms7Q
Baskonia made it two wins out of two for the Liga Endesa on Friday night as they bested Galatasaray 69-62 in Vitoria.
The hosts exploded out of the gate, as they raced to a 22-9 cushion after one only to be pegged back to just four points at the half.
However, Baskonia maintained control of the contest, led by 13 points from both Johannes Voigtamann and Rodrigue Beaubois and sealed the win to improve to 6-4.
Tibor Pleiss amassed 16 points plus 11 rebounds against his former team for the Istanbul side, as they fall to 3-7.
While the teams from Spain went 2-0, the sides from Turkey went 0-2 as Darussafaka Dogus fell at home to Olympiacos 77-71 in the first ever meeting between the two sides.
Olympiacos improved its record to 6-4, while Darussafaka dropped its third straight game and fell to 5-5. The visitors took the lead for good in the second quarter behind Matt Lojeski and opened a 52-40 lead in the third.
Darussafaka rallied with help from three-pointers by Dairis Bertans and Scottie Wilbekin, but Erick Green scored all of his 10 points late in the third and in the fourth quarter to help Olympiacos keep the lead and close out the game.
Lojeski and Georgios Printezis paced Olympiacos with 15 points each.
Zalgiris claimed its first road win in over a year and also climbed off the bottom of the EuroLeague standings by downing Crvena Zvezda 88-79 in Belgrade.
Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 8 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter and Arturas Milaknis knocked down 5 of 6 three-pointers en route to a career-best 19 points as Zalgiris won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
