2016-17Regular SeasonRound 14
FC Barcelona Lassa 89
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 75
December 23, 2016 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA
Tyrese Rice - FC Barcelona Lassa - EB16

Barcelona, Rice set club assists marks in vital win

FC Barcelona Lassa set a new club record with 30 assists while never trailing in a no-doubt-about it 89-75 win over visiting EA7 Emporio Armani Milan on Friday night. Victory improved Barcelona to a 6-8 record, while Milan dropped to 4-10, extending its losing streak to seven games. Behind the masterful play of point guard Tyrese Rice and unstoppable big man Ante Tomic, Barcelona needed only a half of the first quarter to open a double digit lead, and never looked back with its offense running on all cylinders for three quarters. Tomic finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 blocks in only 21 minutes on the floor, and Rice had 10 points while matching the club’s EuroLeague record with 11 assists. Petteri Koponen shone behind the arc, matching his career-high with 5 of 7 shooting for 15 points. For Milan, Rakim Sanders had 27 points on 5-for-9 from long range. Milan Macvan chipped in with 11 points, while Ricky Hickman had 8 points and 8 assists in defeat.

Tomic scored 11 of Barcelona’s first 15 points, mostly using feeds from Rice. When the big man returned the favor, dishing one himself for a Rice triple, the hosts jumped to an 18-6 lead after 6 minutes. With Hickman running the offense, and Jamel McLean and Macvan finishing inside, the visitors got going, but Koponen hit a pair of threes and Juan Carlos Navarro nailed one, too, extending the lead to 15 points, 32-17. In the second quarter, Sanders had a three-point play for the visitors, but Koponen buried two more shots from downtown to keep the margin at 15 points. Tomic added a block and a steal to his tally, also launching a fast break that Alex Renfroe finished with a dunk and it was 47-30 with 3 minutes to go in first half. Sanders had five points on the other end, but the hosts kept control and went into halftime up 49-35. Tomic, Rice and Navarro were facilitators of Barcelona’s offense at the start of the third quarter, dishing assists for each other’s baskets. Rice and Navarro each nailed a triple, and Tomic had a dunk that opened up a 59-39 lead. Zoran Dragic had 6 points for the visitors, and Sanders and Hickman also scored, but the hosts never allowed Milan any kind of a significant run, cruising to its sixth win of the EuroLeague campaign.

Friday, December 23, 2016
Euroleague.net
Referees: BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; PETEK, SASO; BALAK, AMIT
Attendance: 4911
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa32172317
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan19161624
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa32497289
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan19355175
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
2 RICE, TYRESE 29:43 10 2/3 2/5     2 2 11   2   1 1 3 18
3 HOLMES, JONATHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 DOELLMAN, JUSTIN 17:57 8 3/4 0/2 2/2   1 1 2 1       2 2 9
6 DORSEY, JOEY 18:41 8 1/2   6/8 3 7 10 2 2 1     2 4 20
10 CLAVER, VICTOR 21:08 6 1/3 1/2 1/2 5 2 7 1       1 4 2 7
11 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 20:00 8 1/3 2/7     2 2 2         2 2 5
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 22:03 13 4/4 1/4 2/2 2 2 4 3 1 1       1 18
20 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 5:32   0/1 0/1     1 1     1         -2
24 OLESON, BRAD 5:48   0/1           3         1   1
25 KOPONEN, PETTERI 16:52 15 0/1 5/7           1 1     3 1 10
32 RENFROE, ALEX 20:57 2 1/2 0/1         1   1     2 3 1
44 TOMIC, ANTE 21:19 19 9/10   1/2 1 5 6 5 1 1 2   1 3 32
Team           2   2     1         1
Totals 200:00 89 22/34 11/29 12/16 13 22 35 30 6 9 2 2 18 21 120
        64.7% 37.9% 75%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MCLEAN, JAMEL 16:51 5 2/3 0/1 1/1   2 2 1 1 2 1 1 4 1 2
2 FONTECCHIO, SIMONE 3:48         1   1 1         1   1
7 HICKMAN, RICKY 27:00 8 0/3 2/4 2/2   2 2 8   1     1 2 13
9 KALNIETIS, MANTAS 25:51 8 2/5 0/3 4/4   1 1 2       1 2 2 4
11 RADULJICA, MIROSLAV 23:09 2 1/8     3   3 1         3 1 -3
12 DRAGIC, ZORAN 14:46 6 2/5   2/2 1 2 3     1     3 4 6
13 MACVAN, MILAN 22:17 11 4/4 0/1 3/5 2 2 4 1           3 16
14 PASCOLO, DAVIDE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 25:29 8 4/7     1 3 4 3 1 2     3 1 9
21 SANDERS, RAKIM 32:01 27 5/5 5/9 2/3   4 4   2 2 1   2 4 29
23 ABASS, AWUDU 8:48   0/2                     2   -4
30 CERELLA, BRUNO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 2 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 75 20/42 7/18 14/17 10 18 28 17 4 9 2 2 21 18 76
        47.6% 38.9% 82.4%
Head coach: REPESA, JASMIN

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
FC Barcelona Lassa

"It was a very important game. Our schedule was little tough, playing three in a row in Euroleague against very good teams. We challenged them, but we could not win. Tonight was important, it was a must-win game tonight. Always, it is also how your opponents play. But I think we were very consistent for 25 minutes. We controlled the game with our passing ability with our scoring from the outside and inside, and finally we won easily."

"This EuroLeague is so unpredictable that we have to try to win at Palau Blaugrana as much as we can, because the environment here is very positive, always, but we also need to take some wins on the road. I can that we were very competitive against Efes and Baskonia but we lost two games when we had the momentum. We had chances to win both games but one decision determined the final result in each game. We lost both games and did a good job to win the game, but lost it due to one defensive rebound or one three-point shots the opponent made. We have to keep approaching the EuroLeague like this, thinking on the next game. Every game is very important and our record is not too good right now. If you see our schedule, we will play four of the next five games in Palau. For us, it will be impotant to play in our home court, where the environment is very positive and warm."

REPESA, JASMIN
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan
"We had a bad start of the game, making many mistakes, especially in the first half. On the other hand, Barcelona took a quick lead and it was comfortable for then to keep it. We tried to change things in the second half but Barcelona stayed ahead. I don't have an explanation for my team's current situation. I cannot say what is wrong with my team."

Players

TOMIC, ANTE
FC Barcelona Lassa
"Finally, first time this season we were fluid on offense. We shared the ball, and we had good percentages outside three-point line. That, with solid defense I think was the key of tonight’s victory. My contribution was ok. Tonight was me, other day will be someone else. It is a team sport. So, whole team needs to play together, needs to play good to win a game."
RICE, TYRESE
FC Barcelona Lassa
“It was the most important game this year for me. We desperately needed the win, we desperately needed to beat a quality team for our own sake and to keep the fans with us, to keep the organisation knowing we can go up and up. We have got four out of our next five games here at home, and we’ve got a great chance to do something big. We’ve just got to get focussed for the next games.”