Now Regal can concentrate on the tie against Panathinaikos, the last obstacle in the way of a Final Four place at the Palau Sant Jordi and they can do so with the satisfaction of having won a solid and well deserved win over Estudiantes with some of their top basketball.

Regal came out keen to get on top and entertain the fans from the start and Anderson was soon showing his full repertoire of skills and the hard work of his teammates such as Vazquez and a trademark three pointer from Navarro, quickly took them to a commanding 22-9 lead.

Seventeen point lead in first quarter

This was entertaining basketball indeed, though the visitors probably didn’t appreciate it as much as the home crowd who were thrilled by a first quarter that ended 29-12 with a Terence Morris three pointer.

Estudiantes coach Luis Casimiro could see his team’s defence was just not able to stop Barça and he changed things around to bring about an improvement that allowed the visitors to cut the gap to 35-27, then 37-33 as Germán Gabriel and Clark shook things up.

Ricky three pointer gets Barça going again

However, a very well received three pointer from Ricky calmed things down again and Barça got to the half way point 45-37 ahead. Even so, the 25 points conceded in the second quarter would not have pleased coach Xavi Pascual.

Whatever he told the players at the break seemed to work though, as they rushed to a 12-2 partial and choked the visitors’ attack. Navarro was again on top form from distance and helped the team open up a 20 point gap (61-41).

Estudiantes heads began to drop now and Regal cruised to the end of the game, with Navarro and Anderson sitting out the final minutes in preparation for this week’s big game. The visitors scored just 8 points in the third quarter and didn’t get off the mark in the final quarter until seven minutes in, as Barça maintained their 20 point lead and began to look ahead to the games with Panathinaikos. The team had worked hard, but been able to save energy - now the moment of truth is approaching!