26.10.2008 15:20
Devastating last quarter (89-73)
Carles Cascante
Regal FC Barcelona continues its impressive form at the top of the ACB League. At present the Catalan outfit lies in joint second place with Unicaja and TAU. This Sunday against CAI, Ilyasova, Andersen and a devastating last 15 minutes were decisive.
The game was pretty evenly matched until the last quarter of an hour when Ersan Ilyasova made his
mark. The Turk had racked up six points by the end of the third period only to add twelve more in
the fourth quarter. The ex-Bucks player got a 20 point rating, one fewer than David Andersen, to
mark his finest performance to date in a Barça vest. Three other Barça players - Basile, Navarro
and Daniel Santiago - also rated 10 or more.
Good understanding between Santiago and Navarro
The first quarter showed just how well Puerto Rican Daniel
Santiago and Juan Carlos Navarro understand each other on court, with both providing the other with
a stream of assists. It was in fact ‘La Bomba' who first opened up a gap in the scores at
14-9 after firing in his second three pointer on the bounce. The first quarter ended at 23-16, with
Navarro and Santiago leading the way with 8 and 7 points respectively.
However, in the second period the visitors made a comeback. The appearance of Pablo Quinteros
was key to their resurgence as the Argentine scored 12 points in the quarter. Good initial defence
was not maintained and Quinteros made serious inroads, with a three pointer three minutes before
half-time leaving CAI just two points adrift at 34-32. Xavi Pascual’s men, however, took
advantage of free throws to end the half up by 43 to 38.
Mental toughness
Even though CAI began the restart with five points in a row
from American Larry Lewis, Barça held on through mental toughness. Andersen was the lead man for
the Catalans in this period, with the Australian ending on 15 points. The quarter was rounded off
by a spectacular basket by Lescano from almost the middle of the court.
The last period, however, was the one in which Barça really stamped their imprint on the game
in a fine display of entertaining basketball. Ilyasova, who scored five of the last seven baskets
for Regal FC Barcelona, was the star of the final part of what had been an evenly balanced game
until the Catalans put their collective foot on the gas. Nevertheless CAI, with Rubén Garcés in
great form, were able to get back to just two points behind at 62-60, until threes from Navarro and
Grimau’s work rate once again forced a way through to leave Barça running out winners. Now
the players and coaching staff will have a day off before getting ready for their Euroleague clash
with Panathinaikos.
Match details
REGAL FC BARCELONA, 89
CAI ZARAGOZA, 73
Regal FC Barcelona (23+20+17+29): Basile (11), Lakovic (5), Navarro (13), Ilyasova
(18), Santiago (7) – initial fifth – Barrett (-), Trias (-), Barton (2),
Andersen (20), Vázquez (6), Sada (2), Grimau (5)
CAI Zaragoza (16+22+20+15): Lescano (8), Green (6), Garcés (8), Lewis (16), Guerra
(4) – initial fifth– Phillip (4), Victoriano (5), Arteaga (-), Quinteros (18),
Pérez (2), Starosta (2), García (-)
Referees: Amorós, Araña y Soto