FC Barcelona v Lassa v Iberostar Tenerife: Narrow loss to tough opposition (65-73)

FC Barcelona Lassa suffered a 65-73 defeat at the hands of Iberostar Tenerife on Thursday evening, with the visitors proving extremely efficient, especially with their three-pointers.

Tenerife showed why they are regarded as one of the top teams in La Liga Endesa and why they recently earned the Basketball Champions League crown.

Their vibrant energy from the off saw them take a 0-5 lead and, despite Barça turning it around to lead 10-9, the visitors went into the second quarter four points to the good (15-19).

Tomic and Vezenkov were the protagonists for the blaugrana in the first half, and their efforts helped turn the game marginally to the hosts’ favor, as the second quarter ended 33-32.

For all their efforts however, especially Claver who racked up eleven points, Barça were unable to maintain the brightness shown before the break, and Tenerife began to take control, spinning the game back in their favour with a six-point lead in the third.

A treble from Rice less than two minutes before the end narrowed the score to 64-67 but a basket from the visitors and two straight Barça errors in attack allowed the Canary Islanders to stretch their lead, and eventually winning 65-73.

Barça will again be looking to home advantage help push them over the line in the next playoff match, but their fate is no longer in their own hands.