FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.12.2008 22:40

Through to the Top 16 (91-68)

Carles Cascante

Regal Barça achieved one of their main ambitions for the season as they qualified for the Top 16 of the Euroleague with a convincing victory against Nancy on Thursday evening and will now vie with Panathinaikos and Siena for top spot in the group.

The encounter with the French outfit was an even affair until the third quarter when Xavi Pascual’s side broke clear with a nine-point advantage to take control. The strength of Santiago in and around the paint, along with impressive display from Andersen and Juan Carlos Navarro, ensured that the game suddenly sprang open after a first half that saw the hosts struggle to find their rhythm. Víctor Sada’s reappearance after six games out of action was another high point of the evening for Barça.

Quick first half

The first half passed quickly with the small number of personal fouls awarded by the officials helping things move along. The French outfit took a 0-4 lead early to show that they had gone into the game hoping to cause a surprise in front of Barça’s own supporters in the Palau. Nancy still had a slim chance of making into the Top 16 themselves and caused a stir early on as Barça looked to compose themselves in a game they were expected to dominate throughout. But the hosts slowly began to comeback with Santiago netting six points to help them go nine points ahead, 23-14, before the gap was closed by a triple from Sammick.

In the second period, Jean-Luc Monchau’s team started well with the athletic Zaki recording four points in quick succession to close in on Barça even more at 27-25. Then Lubos Barton came off the home team’s bench and the Czech player steadied the Blaugrana’s defence and turned the game in their favour with a commanding display. Soon after, a triple from Navarro saw the nine-point gap reopened, 41-32, with just two minutes to go before the half-time interval.

Eleven points ahead

After the restart, it was again Nancy that came out firing on all cylinders as they ran Barça around to draw level at 49-49. The atmosphere in the arena dropped and that did not help, but the Catalan side found a way back with Roger Grimau and Navarro reacting well. As well as staying strong at the back, the superb performances if Ilyasova at one end and Santiago at the other mean that once again FC Barcelona enjoyed a healthy point lead at the end of the period and this time they would not lose it (62-51).

Ilyasova added points for Barça at the very start of the fourth quarter and that allowed the team to breathe more easily and from there they looked confident that victory would be gained if they made no mistakes. Andersen was inspired while Santiago continued where he had left off in the third quarter with a display that would eventually see him notch 20 points and two rebounds to earn a 20 mark. The final score of 91-68 means that Barça qualified for the next stage and will be looking to beat Pananthinaikos in their next European outing in order to finish top of the group. Before that the Blaugrana head to Andalucia to take on Cajasol in Sevilla (12:30 CET, C33) in the Liga ACB.