FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.02.2009 15:56

Hard worked win (95-91)

Carles Cascante

Regal Barça faced a tough match against Fuenlabrada, a side that scored no fewer than 16 three pointers are were in contention right until the end.

Despite Barça taking an early 11-0 lead, mainly thanks to Ersan Ilyasova, Fuenlabrada fought their way back into the game thanks to three pointers, falling just two short of the ACB record. Luis Guil’s side are a force to be reckoned with from the perimeter, with Oleson and Blanco simply outstanding. Ilyasova, Andersen, Vázquez, Sada and Navarro all broke 10 in the first haklf for Barcelona, who can now turn their thoughts to the Copa del Rey as they move to within two wins of TAU, who lost on Saturday in Madrid.

Strong start

The first two periods provided testimony of just what form Ersan Ilyasova is enjoying, He scored two consecutive threes, while the respective franchise players, Navarro and Oleson, were on less course for good days. The North American didn’t open his account until the second period, and Navarro failed to score in the entire first half.

It was an even first half, despite Barcelona’s excellent start, which Pascual’s constant rotations were powerless to contain. By the end of the first period things stood at 23-16, and it was 39-34 at the break following the first of Oleson’s three pointers. The American finished the first 20 minutes with 7 points.

Triple show

The threes started flowing in the third period. Of the 21 scores in the period, no fewer than 12 were from beyond the 6.25 line. Fuenlabrada, and especially Oleson, eventually managed to take the lead for the first time (41-42), but it was then than Juan Carlos Navarro finally started coming alive, registering 12 points. Fran Vázquez and David Andersen were also good on the paint, and it was threes from the Australian that helped make things 69-58 to Regal Barça going into the last ten.

Thrilling end

Despite an 11 point lead, Barça still didn’t have Fuenlabrada subdued. Oleson was still on fire, and laid up a final five minutes that had the crowd on the edge of their seats. Blanco converted a three to put the visitors within five with two minutes on the clock.

Fouls either way kept up the tension, and it was clever use of free throws from both teams that meant it went down to the wire. Finally it was some fine defending from Roger Grimau and a long throw from Valters, along with a couple of free throws from Ilyasova that tipped the balance in favour of FCB (95-91).