FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.11.2008 23:25

Barça win second league derby (70-57)

Carles cascante

Regal FC Barcelona took their tally of wins for the Liga ACB season to six on day nine of the campaign with a victory against Ricoh Manresa thanks to a strong defensive display that saw the visitors only register 57 points.

In the Blaugrana's second derby of the season so far, a very good showing the third quarter enabled them to move clear on the scoreboard and secure the win with Navarro, Ilyasova and Fran Vázquez standing out. The latter two were in particularly fine form, but that has become the norm this year as the Turkish star again recorded the best statistics of the game.

Vázquez dominates under the hoops

In the first quarter Barrett directed the play as Barça started brightly and Xavi Paschal's team were quick to show that defensively they were going to be difficult to break down. Going forward they were also looking good as they netted 18 points to Ricoh Manresa's 10. Vázquez managed to catch six rebounds in that period alone as he commanded his area and ensured that the visitors key players, with Asselin in particular, not having an enjoyable night.

The intensity of the Blaugrana's play did drop slightly in the second quarter as they saw a number of long shots miss and with that a slight feeling of agitation crept into the game. Paschal was not going to let his players' lose their focus though and was keen to ensure that the absence of Lakovic and Sada was not noticed as he rotated things constantly. The visitors were able to reduce the deficit though as Asselin did find more time and space and helped his side to win the period, 12-17.

Normality returns

That comeback by the away team could have seen them look to move even closer to their hosts in the third quarter, but instead Barça Regal reacted well and bounced back with an impressive display. With four minutes of the first period after the break remaining, the Blaugrana were 13 points in front and completely in control and they maintained that margin to go into the final quarter 52-39 up.

It was about conserving the lead in the last period as Ilyasova came into his own and dominated under the hoops to finish the game with 12 points scored and nine rebounds. Barrett also will have been pleased with his display in the last few minutes and Navarro rediscovered his scoring touch to sink a triple and put Barça 63-50 ahead. The hoodoo of team's that had a rest always lose their first game back was forgotten too as FC Barcelona went on to score 20 points in the last quarter of an encounter that saw the hosts collaborate with the visitors initiative "We are all Manresa" which aims to collect money for Bages, who are struggling to maintain their status in the Liga ACB and not follow CB Girona in having to leave.