Barça 86-74 Baxi Manresa: Brilliant blaugranes!

After sealing qualification to the Euroleague 'Play-Offs' with a win in Moscow, the Blaugrana beat Baxi Manresa with a brilliant performance on their return to domestic competition. An equal match saw Barça score more than their opponents in the first and third periods and less in the second and fourth, but still come away with the victory thanks in no small part to the 24 points scored by Brandon Davies.

He scored seven of the first nine Barça points, with his team-mates ensuring that their solid defence made Manresa's baskets impossible. By the end of the first period, Manresa were eight points behind and struggling to build up a head of steam (24-16, min 10). Pedro Martínez's side came storming back in the second period, and six three-pointers helped them outscore the hosts during those 10 minutes, albeit Barça still led at half-time (47-42). 

Barça open up a gap

The Manresans then became erratic in both their shot selection and their passes, missing several in a row. That allowed Davies and Mirotic to take advantange, and by 29 minutes, Barça were up 68-51, closing the period at 70-54. Another burst from Manresa in the fourth period saw them score 11 unanswered points, but it was too little, too late.

MATCH DETAILS

Barça, 86
Baxi Manresa, 74

Barça: Higgins (11), Hanga (4), Abrines (10), Davies (24), Mirotic (14) –starters- Ribas (8), Claver (-), Smits (-), Oriola (5), Kuric (8), Pustovyi (2).
Baxi Manresa: Guillem Jou (4), Báez (7), Kravish (15), Vaulet (4), Cvetkovic (12) -starters- Dulkys (-), Mitrovic (11), Dani Pérez (1), Magarity (5), Pere Tomàs (13), Nelson (2), Sakho (-).
Periods: 24-16 / 23-26 / 23-12 / 16-20
Officials: Daniel Hierrezuelo, Rafael Serrano and Rubén Sánchez.
Attendance: 5,028 spectators at the Palau Blaugrana.