FC Barcelona Regal blasted Galatasaray Medical Park 79-50

FC Barcelona Regal bounced back from its first loss in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague by blowing out Galatasaray Medical Park 79-50 to finish Group D action with a victory. Barcelona proved that it did not need all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro – out with plantar fasciitis – in easing to a 9-1 record. Boniface Ndong led the way with 16 points – 11 of those in the third quarter – 6 rebounds and 4 blocks while Erazem Lorbek tallied 13 points. Victor Sada chipped in 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists and Marcelinho Huertas had 9 points. Galatasaray, which had already booked a Top 16 spot by securing fourth place regardless of the result, dropped to 4-6 in the group. Cevher Ozer led Galatasaray with 11 points.

Pete Mickeal opened the scoring for Barcelona with a jumper and Ndong converted an offensive rebound putback and one for an early 5-0 lead. A Jamon Lucas jumper put Galatasaray on the board. The hosts pounded the ball inside on offense for a Lorbek tip-in and Ndong dunk to build a 9-4 lead. Barcelona was also playing strong defense with Lorbek and Ndong both blocking shots in the first five minutes with Sada’s lay-up making it 11-6. The Spanish giants took their game outside with Lorbek and Mickael sandwiching three-balls around an Ndong block for a 17-6 advantage before Ozer tallied Galatasaray’s first points not scored by Lucas to make it 17-8. Huseyin Koksal’s lay-up cut the margin to 17-10 but back-to-back Sada baskets pushed the lead to double digits for the first time at 21-10. And Xavier Rabaseda’s inside basket gave Barcelona a 23-11 cushion. Ender Arslan’s lay-up just before the buzzer left the hosts ahead 23-13 after one quarter.

Luksa Andric started the scoring in the second quarter and a second inside basket brought Galatasaray to within 25-17. C.J. Wallace hit a put-back and Fran Vazquez scored on a fade away jumper to push the Barcelona lead back to 12 points at 29-17. The guests brought the deficit back to eight – 29-21 – on Sertac Sanli’s inside score but consecutive baskets by Huertas – the second on a spinning lay-up – had the margin back to 33-21. Tutku Acic was able to get it back to single digits before Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual brought Mickael and Lorbek back to the floor. Mickael hit a jumper in the lane and Lorbek nailed a triple, which was followed by another long ball by Huertas as Barcelona blasted out to a 41-24 lead. A Joe Ingles free throw and tough lay-up increased the lead to 20 points – 46-26. Layups from Ozer and Acik could only get Galatasaray within 18 points but a third three-ball by Lorbek just before the buzzer had Barcelona ahead 51-30 at halftime.

Barcelona continued its superb play to start the second half with Ndong throwing down a dunk and Wallace hitting a break-away lay-up for a 55-30 lead. Furkan Aldemir finally got Galatasaray on the board three minutes into the second half but Ndong converted a three-point play and then two free throws to extend the advantage to 60-32 and then blocked an Andric shot at the other end as Barcelona would not give up any easy baskets. Ndong made two more foul shots as the bulge was extended to 30 points – 62-32. Galatasaray tried to come back with Ozer hitting the team’s first three-pointer of the game to trim the game to 63-37. Ndong was just too much, hitting a lay-up inside and then blocking a shot at the other end. Ozer scored two more baskets to move Galatasaray within 65-41. Ingles ended the third quarter with a three-pointer to make it 68-41 after 30 minutes.

Lorbek started fourth quarter play with a jumper after which Aldemir hit a free throw and a dunk to trim the deficit to 70-44. Rabaseda converted a fast-break layup and then Chuck Eidson buried a three-pointer and two foul shots and Ingles fast-break score extended the lead to 33 points, 79-46, before Galatasaray scored the final 4 points of the game.