FCBARCELONA.CAT

28.03.2009 20:14

Thriller ends in overtime victory (95-94)

Sònia de Alba

Regal Barça have secured an overtime victory against Unicaja clinched by a Navarro free throw 16 seconds from the end.

Regal FC Barcelona are fighting hard to hang on to that second place in the ACB table. After a shaky start during which Unicaja (coached by Aíto García Reneses) took control, especially thanks to the rebound, Barça gradually eased back into the game.

There has been overtime in five games during the last two rounds of the competition and today the win went to Barça. The defence won the battle of the final seconds.

Unicaja surge ahead

Unicaja dominated the opening exchanges and built up a lead of 11 points on the basis of three-pointers and rebounds. Carlos Jiménez, Marcus Haislip and Boniface N’Dong did most of the damage as Unicaja surged ahead 15-26 with a three-pointer from Jiri Welsch.

The visitors extended the gap to 12 in the second quarter and led by 40-49 at the break.

Teamwork

Barça, in particular Santiago, Ilyasova and Andersen, responded with patience and an emphasis on the inside game.

Despite this, Barça had to wait until the end of the third quarter to make the breakthrough they deserved. Fran Vázquez made it 70-72 after 30 minutes thanks in part to two three-pointers from Basile and the determination of Grimau

Regal Barça take the lead

Lakovic and Basile put Barça ahead 76-72 early in the last quarter and brought the game to fever pitch. The accuracy of the throwing decreased as the tension mounted.

N’Dong and Robert Archibald continued to pose a danger but the main duel was between Marcus Haislip and Juan Carlos Navarro. Five points from Haislip levelled the score at 84-84 but Navarro failed to clinch it I regular time.

Overtime period

The two sides swapped baskets in overtime and the duel between Navarro and Haislip was electric. ‘La Bomba’ reached 5,000 points in the Spanish league while the Unicaja forward accumulated 24 points.

Navarro’s eleven points were rounded off by a free throw 16 seconds from time to put a definitive 95-94 on the scoreboard. Unicaja were unable even to throw in reply.

The downside of the evening was the injury to Andre Barrett, who fell in the first half and hurt his elbow. Meanwhile, Roger Grimau played on through a foot problem to finish with 11 points.