Winterthur FC Barcelona downing Benetton Treviso 82-69

Winterthur FC Barcelona stayed undefeated in Group C by downing Benetton Treviso 82-69 at home in Spain on Thursday. Barcelona is now tied with CSKA Moscow atop the Group C standings, each with a 2-0 record. Meanwhile, Benetton joins a four-way tie for the third places in the standings along with Pau-Orthez, Zalgiris Kaunas and Aris TT Bank, all now 1-1. Juan Carlos Navarro led the winners with 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Mario Kasun added 19 points on 8-for-11 shooting while Jaka Lakovic and Gianluca Basile each had 13 points. Marcus Goree had 19 points for Benetton coming off the bench. Terrell Lyday added 14 points and Nikos Zisis 12 for the guests. Kasun shined in the opening quarter to give Barcelona a 23-13 lead after 10 minutes, while strong man-to-man defense allowed the hosts to keep a 43-31 margin at halftime. Navarro stepped up in the third quarter and Barcelona soon made it a 24-point game, 67-43. Goree and Lyday brought Benetton within 72-60, but Barcelona had no problems to seal a well-deserved win.

Kasun opened the game with an easy layup which Nikos Zisis erased with a short jumper. Navarro fired in a floating layup while Benetton struggled to score early. Kasun shined with a reverse layup whle Jordi Trias fed Navarro for an easy layup, good for a 8-2 Barcelona lead. Joey Beard got Benetton going with back-to-back layups but he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, Kasun and Lakovic hit free throws to give Barcelona a 11-6 lead. Angelo Gigli and Lakovic exchanged three-pointers, while a red hot Kasun shined with a fastbreak dunk, forcing a Benetton timeout at 16-9. Zisis stepped up with a driving layup but Trias bettered it with a layup-plus-foul while Kasun added a monster dunk to push Barcelona's lead to double digits, 21-11. Nelson scored in the low post but Gianluca Basile buried a long jumper for a 23-13 Barcelona margin after 10 minutes.

Goree tried to ignit the Benetton comeback with a shot-clock beating three-pointer and a baseline jumper, but free throws by Denis Marconato and a big triple by Basile kept Barcelona fully ahead, 28-18. Benetton tried to increase the game tempo but Barcelona was fully focused in defense. Goree bureid his second triple but Rodrigo De La Fuente answered from downtown and fed Fran Vazquez for a power layup, forcing a Benetton timeout at 33-21. Marco Mordente took over with a floating layup and Zisis canned a jumper in a 0-6 Benetton run which Angelo Gigli capped with an easy basket to give the guests some hope at 33-27. It didn't last long, as Basile and Lakovic each buried one from downtown to keep Barcelona out of trouble at 39-27. Goree shined with a big basket coming off the baseline but Kasun followed free throws with a left-handed jump hook. Matteo Soragna scored around the basket to bring Benetton within 43-31 at halftime. The guests did not attempt a single free throw in the first half.

Navarro opened the second half in style with a corner triple to which Nelson replied with a put-back layup. Navarro insisted from downtown to make it a 16-point game, 49-33 early in the third quarter. Kasun kept pacing Barcelona with an easy layup and by the time Basile fired in a six-meter jumper, the hosts led by 20, 53-33. Terrell Lyday scored his first points on a driving layup, igniting a 0-7 Benetton run in which Goree followed a triple with the guests' first free throws of the night to get his team within 53-40. Kasun - who else? - scored again around the basket while Basile buried a corner three-pointer which Lyday matched in the other end. An unstoppable Kasun dunked it while Navarro followed free throws with an unbelievable three-pointer in a 9-0 run which Jakovic capped with a running jumper. Lyday buried another triple and Goree shined with a put-back dunk, but Barcelona kept a 67-50 lead after three quarters.

Lyday stayed hot with a big three-pointer early in the final period. Navarro got Barcelona back in track with a floating layup which Zisis erased with a mid-range jumper to bring Benetton within 69-54 with 8 minutes to go. It didn't last long, however, as Navarro nailed a three-pointer while Benetton had troubles to score in the other end. Even with that, Gigli hit free throws and Goree shined with a big dunk to make Barcelona call timeout at 72-58. Nelson kept fueling the Benetton comeback with a tip-in which Marconato erased with free throws while Lakovic sealed the outcome with a three-pointer, as Barcelona led 77-60 with 4 minutes to go. Nothing changed until the final buzzer, as Barcelona cruised to a big home win and showed that few teams will be able to win in Palau Blaugrana this season.