Victory in Murcia by 86-72 rounded off the week for Barça in a game that was dominated by both defenses. Saras Jasikevicius' team dominated the encounters and the offensive contributiuons of Laprovittola (15), Vesely (14), Higgins (13) and Kuric (13) ensured the win for the blaugranes.
Defenses on top
Barça came out determined to negate Murcia's perimeter shooting and kept the home side to just four points in the opening five minutes of the contest. Both defenses dominated in the opening period with Barça taking a slim 17-13 lead into the second quarter.
Kuric's three pointers and solid defending saw the blaugranes take a 23-15 lead but that was cut to 37-33 at half time as Murcia came back into the contest via the boards.
Securing the win
In the second half Barça maintained their defensive pressure and controlled the encounter. Laprovittola and Vesely contributed vital points to give the blaugranes a 65-57 lead going into the final quarter.
In the final quarter Barça got themselves into a 10 points lead with Murcia seemingly out of the contest. The home side came back but the blaugranes closed out the win at 86-72.
The next game for Saras' team is on Thursday 19 January against Baskonia at 8.30pm CET.
MATCH STATS
UCAM Murcia, 72
Barça, 86
UCAM Murcia: Bellas (3), Radovic (11), McFadden (2), Pustovyi (12), Anderson (15) – starting five – Trice (8), Davis (6), Luther (-), Sakho (-), Diop (12), Jelinek (-), Rojas (3)
Barça: Vesely (14), Kalinic (4), Laprovittola (15), Abrines (4), Mirotic (7) - starting five – Da Silva (-), Paulí (-), Sanli (10), HIggins (13), Kuric (13), Jokubaitis (4), Nnaji (2)
