FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.12.2007 22:57

AXA Barça play well and win (83-80)

Sònia de Alba

AXA FC Barcelona beat Pamesa in overtime in game ten of the ACB League against the best defensive side in the championship.

Pamesa are a very strategic outfit and came to the Palau intent on making life difficult for a Barça side that knows they have to win every game at home. Valencia started strong but Barça always knew how to respond. Mario Kasun from close and Jaka Lakovic from afar led the scoring in a first period that ended 22-14. The Slovenian started the breakaway with the first three pointer of the game (11-10) and added another soon after (14-12).

Defensive duties

Pamesa bit back. Shammond Williams and Rubén Douglas combined well, while young Barac and Claver also caused plenty of problems for Barça. But by half time Barça were still in a commanding lead (42-34).

The third period saw Barça’s lead reduced. From 50-40, Pamesa started clawing their way back into the game, with Víctor Claver in particular playing a huge role in pulling the orange vested visitors back to 54-53.

The final period saw more of the same. Lakovic steered Barça back into a nine point lead at 65-56 but Williams and Barac helped take things into overtime. Shammond had two free throws right at the end of the match, and converted the two to take the game into an extra period (73-73).

Pepe Sánchez the star of overtime

The five minutes of overtime saw little action until the last two. Pepe Sánchez cleverly picked out Lakovic who sent home an important three pointer (76-74). This was followed by a triple from Pepe to give Barça the breathing space they needed (79-74). Pamesa didn’t throw in the towel, Claver in particular pressuring well, but the clock was clicking in Barça’s favour.
But the side led by Katsikaris came within a whisker of forcing a second overtime period. Shammond Williams was awarded three free throws almost on the buzzer, but only converted two. Then a foul in favour of Jaka Lakovic for unsportsmanlike behaviour committed by Douglas allowed Barça to sentence the match at 83-80.

Morandais to train on Monday

Michel Morandais’ contract expires on Monday. However, the club has the option of extending his contract to the end of the season. Both parties have yet to agree terms but what seems clear is that the player will continue to train as normal until a final verdict is decided.

Cubells in the box

The member of the board with responsibilities for basketball, Josep Cubells, presided the game, as he had done midweek in Rome, and was able to celebrate “the kind of game that creates support”. The attendance was not as high as would have been hoped, with just 4,00 people in the Palau, a direct result of the coincidence of times with the football derby with Espanyol..
Games were also offered in the ACB Collegiate Series. The AXA FC Barcelona Division was presented during the break. 16 teams, 8 male and 8 female, will be competing to reach the Division Final first, and then the ACB overall series.