Real Madrid - FCB Regal: Fifty minutes for the history books (108-111)

Historic. Unforgettable. An homage to basketball. Tonight’s was a match that’s worth watching multiple times. Forty minutes of high-voltage action and ten additinal minutes of heart-stopping overtime. Barça Real defeated Real Madrid after two overtime periods in the quarter-final match of the Copa del Rey by 108 to 111. Pete Mickeal, in the first half and in the last minutes of the game, and Ante Tomic, in the second half and in overtime, led Xavi Pascual’s men to an unforgettable victory.

Mickeal leads the way

In the first quarter Barça Regal were terrific going forward but they were lacking in the defensive rebound department. Pete Mickeal stepped up to lead Xavi Pascual’s team in the first minutes of the match (11-14, min 6). His comrade in arms was Erazem Lorbek, who linked-up well with Huertas. With Oleson on the court, Barça Regal jumped to a six-point lead, 14-20, after a great three-pointer from the American. At the end of the first quarter Barça enjoyed a seven-point lead (18-25).

The pace of the match didn’t slow at all in the second quarter. On Barça’s end, Nate Jawai was especially effective as he slammed the ball through the hoop on a couple of occasions. The Australian took Barça Regal to a nine-point lead, 21-30. Madrid, on the other hand, reacted and stormed back to make it 35-34, thanks to an active Mirotic. Barça Regal weathered the onslaught and took control of the match once again thanks to a  three-pointer from Navarro and basket from Tomic. The teams went to the break with 46 to 49 on the scoreboard.

Stiff defence in the second half

At the start of the second half Real Madrid enjoyed a 5-0 run which gave them then lead (51-49). But Barça Regal hit back with a devastating 0-10 run of their own. Mickeal, who was simply spectacular, had netted 19 points from all over the court. However, Slaughter battled his team back into contention at the end of the third quarter (60-64 for Barça Regal).

In the last ten minuets of the match, Madrid took advantage of a series of devensive errors to take the lead. The scoreboard went from 60-64 to 67-66 thanks to a three-pointer from Carroll. That’s when CJ Wallace stepped up and knocked down three points for the Blaugrana to make 67 to 69. Not to be outdone, Llull scored a three for Madrid, and both teams entered the last two minutes of the game level on 73 points. Barça Regal and Real Madrid traded blows in the final minutes, and when the buzzer blared, they were even at 77 points apiece.

Double overtime

Barça Regal got off to a flying start in the first overtime and nearly killed off the game (79-85). The six-point advantage looked to be decisive until Sergio Rodríguez and Sergio Llull fired away to give Los Blancos a one-point lead. In the last minute of the first overtime, Lorbek snagged an offensive rebound and knocked down the tying basket.

In the second overtime, Lorbek, Tomic and Mickeal fired Barça to a four-point lead, but Llull, once again from beyond the three-point line, kept his team in contention. As time drained from the clock, Xavi Pascual urged his men forward. Mickeal and Oleson netted to make it 103-106 with 22 seconds left on the clock. From that point on Barça Regal did well to sink their free throws, and it was enough to ensure passage to the next round thanks to the final score of 108 to 111.