FCBARCELONA.CAT

13.11.2008 22:10

Three Euro wins after Prokom triumph (74-62)

Carles Cascante

Regal FC Barcelona won their third Euroleague encounter of the season on Thursday evening against a very determined Asseco Prokom side in the Palau. The Polish visitors gave the Blaugrana stern test before losing ground in the second half.

Juan Carlos Navarro and Roger Grimau stood out for the hosts with 21 and eight points respectively, with the captain also earning a rating of 19 for his all-round play. The opening half of play lacked the intensity Barça usually enjoy, but after the break the Catalan outfit scored 28 points in the third period and managed to end up as decisive victors. Grimau and Barrett also stood out as they claimed prominent roles in the team after Sada and Lakovic were sidelined.

In the last period, coach Xavi Pascual was able to make a grand gesture by introducing Xavi Rey and Nihad Dedovic to play for the last couple of minutes. Another outstanding figure was Jordi Trás as he took full advantage of the opportunity to shine against the Poles.

Lacking intensity

The first quarter of the game went by at a quick pace as there were few fouls, little pressure and not many points cause, in the main, by the physical play of the Polish visitors. Ewing and Logan were strong in defence for the away team and it was down to them that the Blaugrana were unable to add many points to their tally.

Ending at 10-12, the opening period was forgettable, but one thing that was noticeable was Ersan Ilyasov's five rebounds. The Turkish star was highly motivated after the head of the Euroleague, Jordi Bartomeu, presented him with a trophy before the game for being the MVP for October. In the second period, thanks mainly to a strong display from Gianluca Basile, Barça started to come into the game. Trias came off the bench and helped lift the team and performed well under the hoops as he finished the first half with six points. Burke started to stand out for the visitors, but Barça were able to take the lead and head into the interval with a four-point lead at 30-26.

Navarro shines

At the start of the third quarter, the level of play that would lead to the Blaugrana's was evident and it was when Navarro came good. Having scored just four points in the opening two periods, he went on to sink 14 more in the third and fourth quarters to help ensure that Prokom were unable to stay level with the Catalan outfit. His impressive tally took the home team into a nine pint lead, 35-26.

With fine minutes before the end of the period, Grimau moved Barça eleven points clear, their biggest advantage in the game until then, but that soon increased with a triple from Navarro soon after that put his side 52-38 in the lead. The quarter ended with Barça in front 58-42, with to two free shots from Logan reducing the arrears.

Good finish

In the last ten minutes of play, Regal Barça edged 18 points in front after another triple from Navarro as he completed a superb run of scoring six two-pointers out of seven and three triples from eight attempts. Prokom did manage to pull themselves closer, but they were unable to cause Barça many problem and the hosts recorded another confidence-boosting win.