FCB Regal - Valencia Basket: Copa del Rey champions! (85-69)

Barça Regal won the Copa del Rey this Sunday evening, the first big title of the season, after defeating Valencia Basket in the final by 85 to 69. The men managed by Xavi Pascual jumped to an insurmountable lead in the fourth quarter and won the 23rd Cup in Club history.

Equal first half

In a final it’s always important to strike first, this let’s your rival know that you mean business and that you’re on form. This was the attitude that Barça Regal had when they came out onto the Buesa Arena court and in five minutes they already had an eight-point lead (14-6). Víctor Sada led the Blaugrana in the opening minutes - 7 of the team’s 14 points were his - which forced Perasovic to call timeout.

Valencia reacted with a 3-12 run of their own. The teams finished the first quarter with 17 to 18 on the scoreboard. Both sides were evenly matched in the second quarter. Perasovic’s men started knocking down points from beyond the three-point line and jumped to a five-point lead (21-26). That was the biggest lead Valencia enjoyed in the second quarter, but Barça fired back and took a three-point lead thanks to Jawai, Oleson and Wallace (36-33).

Importance difference

At the start of the second half, Barça Regal came out with one idea: break the game. Said and done. An imperious Jawai dominated on both sides of the court and Oleson knocked down four consecutive points. The difference of 52 to 39 seemed to be close to decisive, but Valencia never gives up, and much less in a final. They fought back to come within eight points (61-45) at the end of the third quarter.

Lorbek secures the title

On various occasions Barça could have closed out the game, but they were unable to land the crippling blow. In fact, Valencia came within five points of Barça in the last quarter (63-57), but a 7-0 run led by Oleson and Lorbek saw Barça take a 13-point lead (70-57). In the last four minutes of the game, the Slovenian proved decisive on both sides of the court.

The final score of 85 to 69 secured the third Cup of the Xavi Pascual era and the 23rd Cup in the history of FC Barcelona.