31.05.2009 14:22
First step towards the final (70-62)
Verònica Díez
Regal Barça has won the first game of its ACB League semi-final against Unicaja Malaga (70-62). It was a hard fought victory decided in the final minutes, and with the series now standing at 1-0 the Catalans have taken a big stride toward the final.
Xavi Pascual’s men had to work hard to beat the Malaga outfit. Carlos Cabeza got Unicaja back
into the game in the second quarter and the match was evenly balanced right up until the end.
Lakovic, Vázquez and Andersen were the best Barça players.
Strong start
Barça came out strongly and dominated the early exchanges
with Santiago and Andersen making the difference with defensive rebound turnovers. The Catalans
scored 7 unanswered points to begin the game as Unicaja looked lost on court and unable to breach
Barça’s defence. The first quarter ended at 17 to 7, the biggest lead of the game.
Cabezas gets Unicaja back in the game
Carlos Cabeza was the star of the second quarter as he got his side back in the contest, with
three triples on the spin putting Aíto García Reneses’s men just one point behind at 22-21
five minutes after the restart. Carlos Jiménez then put Unicaja ahead for the first time at 22-23.
From then on the game became very evenly balanced with good
defence on both sides and poor shooting meaning neither team was able to build a big lead. Gomis
made it 24-28, to give Unicaja its largest lead of the game, but Andersen pulled two points back
before halftime (26-28).
Stepping up the tempo
At the start of the second half Unicaja showed they were ready to take the game to Barça who
began the period off colour. Then when Ndong made it 33-38 the Catalans said enough is enough and
scored 8 unanswered points to go ahead by 41-38. It was still an even contest and the visitors won
an exchange of free throws to be ahead by 47-48 at the start of the fourth quarter.
Lakovic makes the difference
There were now just ten minutes to go and Lakovic soon set
to work. In the seventh minute he took advantage of a defensive error to put FC Barcelona ahead at
60-58, a score which changed the game entirely. Gradually Barça pulled further ahead as Unicaja
were unable to respond, and the Catalans finally ran out winners by 70 to 62 to give them the upper
hand in the tie.
MATCH STATS
REGAL FC BARCELONA, 70
UNICAJA DE MÁLAGA, 62
Regal FC Barcelona (17+9+21+23): Lakovic (14), Navarro (12), Barton (2), Andersen
(12), Santiago (3) – starting five – Basile (8), Vázquez (11), Ilyasova (5), Sada (2)
and Grimau (1).
Unicaja de Málaga (7+21+20+14): Cook (3), Rodríguez (2), Welsh (4), Jiménez (5),
Ndong (14) – starting five – Cabezas (15), Archibald (8), Gomis (4), Haislip (4) and
Kelati (3).
Referees: Mitjana, Hierrezuelo and Redondo.