FC Barcelona Lassa v Divina Seguros Joventut: Nail biting victory in the derby (79-77)

FC Barcelona Lassa v Divina Seguros Joventut: Nail biting victory in the derby (79-77)

Bartzokas' players had to work hard for the points in Badalona in an intense game which went down to the wire and was won with Tomic playing a prominent role with 15 points

A derby game is always something special and this was abundantly clear at the Palau Blaugrana today. The two teams' different standings in the table wasn't noticeable in the match between FC Barcelona Lassa and Divina Seguros Joventut. The derby, as you would expect, was fiercely contested and finished with a nail biting end that gave Barça a tight 79-77 victory. Diego Ocampo's team made it very hard for Barça and they fought until the final seconds. Ante Tomic, who scored fifteen, and Aleksandar Vezenkov, who scored eighteen, were the most prominent blaugranas on the day and they helped Barça get the victory which leaves them on nine wins and three defeats for the season.

The Penya start strongly

Things didn't get off to the best of starts for Barça who went into the break behind. The away side were strong in defence and convincing in attack meaning that they led with a score of 39-31 at the restard. During most of the first half of this derby, there was parity between the two teams. The blaugranas overturned a 7-0 deficit with a Claver three pointer and two from Vezenkov giving them a 9-7 lead. In the second quarter a Dorsey smash put Barça six points up in the 16th minute (31-25).

However, four minutes went by without a point for the home side and Ocampo's players took advantage with four three pointers in four minutes. Bogdanovic, Vidal and Sabat did the damage and gave the Penya an eight point lead going into the break.

Barça reaction

A very good period in which Barça scored 19 points to the opponent's six, with Vezenkov getting eight and Rice five, put the home side in front with a score of 50-45 in the 26th minute. Bartzokas' team had a good third quarter and they were in front for most of it. They were able to keep the Penya at arms length and they entered the crucial final quarter with a three point advantage.

The game swings Barça's way

The away team didn't give in and they once again wrestled the lead off Barça thanks to a Sabat three pointer. However, this was shortlived as a spectacular minute for the blaugranas with a Vezenkov three pointer, a Tomic basket and two defensive rebounds from Rice and Oleson gave Barça the chance to regain the lead and this time they would keep it.

The final minutes were frantic as Bogdanovic missed a three pointer, Rice scored from two free throws and then Sabat brought the away side back within two points with another three pointer. However, Barça managed to hold on to the victory in an intense, exhausting and exhilirating derby game.

Força Barça
Força Barça

Related to this article

Close article

Related to this article