By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Kevin Punter with 26 points had a night to remember at Belgrade and Barcelona became the first team to beat Crvena Zvezda this season in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
The final score was 98-94, Jan Vesely with 19 points and Jabari Parker with 13 also had a crucial contribution for Barcelona and the two teams are now tied with a 3-1 record.
Tomas Satoransky and Willy Hernangomez added 11 points each for the winning side.
Yago Dos Santos with 23 points, Nikola Kalinic (19 p.), Joel Bolomboy (11 p.) and Mika Daun (10 p.) for the Serbs tried their best but it was not enough.
As Zvezda coach Giannis Sfairopoulos said after stating that he was not satisfied with his team’s defense: “The game was 50-50 until the end. This is the Euroleague, a tough competition, we have to stay strong, and steady and fight at home and on the road. I want to thank the fans who supported us, I’m sorry that we didn’t give them the victory”.
By tooth and claw
In a balanced first half, the score was 26-25 in favor of Barcelona after 10 minutes of action, Zvezda got the lead back and a four-point cushion (37-33).
The fight continued with Barcelona taking the lead (54-49) as Vesely scored 12 points and Zvezda answered back and got a nine-point advantage (65-56) with Mike Daum scoring 10.
However, at the end of the third period, Barcelona was trailing by three (66-63) and with five and a half minutes left was up by one point (72-71) with Vesely scoring again.
The game was going to be decided on details and entering the last two minutes the score was tied at 80. Dos Santos made two free throws and Laprovittola one (82-81) with both Canaan and Satoransky missing their shots.
A missed free throw…
Twenty six seconds before the end, Joel Bolomboy and Jan Vesely had a jump ball after fighting for the rebound – which resulted in a long review – with Zvezda’s big man getting the ball, Barcelona’s bench was punished with a “T” for protesting for timekeeping.
Isaiah Canaan missed the free throw and Kevin Punter with a three made the score 84-82 with nine seconds left. Dos Dantos tied it all at 84, but Punter couldn’t win it at the buzzer and the result was overtime.
“I was looking for a foul on Bolomboy, I thought there was justification for that, the refs checked and stayed with the decision”, explained coach Sfairopoulos. “Canaan scored important free throws in the last game, he is a good free throw shooter.”
The two teams walked side by side and the score was tied at 93 entering the last minute of overtime.
Punter made a huge three to give a 96-93 advantage and Yago Dos Santos went to the free throw line. He made one, lost the second and Joel Bolomboy got the rebound, but Punter stole the ball and made the last two points of the contest.
Photo credit: EuroLeague