By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
About two hours before tipoff, Barcelona announced that Kevin Punter would be available, and he did return in style after his injury.
The former Partizan player “killed” his former team with 25 points. He made key baskets throughout the night, and Barcelona prevailed 87-80 with him as the star.
Chimezie Metu added 16 points, and Thomas Satoransky also scored in double digits with 11.
“Credit to Partizan, they play tough. They hit back in the second half. It was a battle between two teams fighting for the playoffs, and the game was played at that level. I’m taking it game by game. I don’t get too excited, I just keep building,” said recenlty recovered Punter.
After this game a four-way tie is created between Crvena Zvezda, Paris, Milan and Barcelona with a 16-13 record, between the sixth and the ninth spot of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague standings, while Partizan is tied with Real Madrid and Anadolu Efes between the 10th and the 12th place.
Sterling Brown and Isiaha Mike, with 16 points each, were the top scorers of Partizan, and Carlik Jones added 14.
Barcelona closed the game the right way
With a three-point play by Tyrique Jones, Partizan jumped to an early 23-13 lead after eight minutes of action.
However, Barcelona trimmed the lead to seven (32-25) at the end of the first period and then to two (32-30), with Punter scoring 12 points on 4/4 threes.
That was the start of things to come, with the partial score in the second quarter being 29-9 for the hosts, who closed the halftime leading by 13 (54-41).
Partizan didn’t give up and trimmed the lead to six points (73-67) at the end of the third period, closing to two points after a three by Mike with four minutes left in the game (77-75).
The answer of Barcelona was six unanswered points (83-75) and the game was over with Punter being present on all the last big moments.
“Obviously, we’re happy to get an important victory with the help of the Palau. We started weak, without energy, but then we showed a great attitude, although their offensive rebounding hurt us. We should be pleased with the team’s effort and mentality,” Joan Penarroya said after the match.