Montepaschi Siena downed Regal FC Barcelona 71-61

Montepaschi Siena survived a tough test and became the undefeated Group B leader by downing previously undefeated Regal FC Barcelona 71-61 at home on Thursday behind an outstanding Henry Domercant. Montepaschi improved to 3-0 and joins Tau Ceramica, Cibona and CSKA Moscow as the only undefeated teams left in the Euroleague - the four regular season group leaders. Meanwhile, Barcelona dropped to 2-1 and is tied with Panathinaikos and Asseco Prokom for second place in the group. Domercant paced the winners with 19 points, stealing the show in the fourth quarter with impossible three-pointers to single-handedly win it for Montepaschi. Ksistof Lavrinovic added 12, Romain Sato had 11 while Terrell McIntyre got 10 for the hosts. Ersan Ilyasova led Barcelona with 14 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jaka Lakovic added 12 points while a Fran Vazquez had 11 for the guests, who led 45-51 after 30 minutes. A reverse layup by Rimantas Kaukenas ignited an 11-0 run that put Montepaschi ahead for good, 56-51. Domercant made sure to keep the hosts in the driver's seat all the way until the final buzzer.

Ilyasova opened the scoring for the guests with a three-pointer. And the early gap was 2-8 after Jaka Lakovic hit a three-ball and another basket. Ilyasova made it 4-10 before Domercant nailed a long ball and would later make 2 foul shots in a 9-0 run for a 13-10 lead. Barcelona scored the next 5 points to pull back ahead, but McIntyre converted a three-point play and Siena led 18-16 after one period.

Andre Barrett’s free throws to open the second evened the game and Vazquez gave the guests the lead. Morris Finley then knocked down a triple, but Gianluca Basile did as well for Barca and Vazquez scored again to make it 21-25. The lead was 23-27 when Sato drained a long ball. But Lubos Barton hit a three as well to keep Barcelona ahead 26-32. Siena was within 32-34 at the break after 4 last minute points by Jaka Lavrinovic.

Barcelona came out of the locker room the better team and Ilyasova’s basket finished off a 0-6 run for a 32-40 lead. Lavrinovic responded with back-to-back three-pointers and the gap was only 41-42 after McIntrye’s three-point play. Lakovic answered with a triple and David Andersen made two baskets in a 2-9 Barca surge for a 43-51 advantage, which was 45-51 after three periods.

Kaukenas opened the fourth for Montepaschi and Domercant followed with a three-pointer and a lay-up in an 11-0 run for a 56-51 lead four minutes into the final period. Juan Carlos Navarro stopped the drought, but Finley and Domercant scored to make it 60-53. Ilyasova’s foul shots made it 64-59 with about two minutes left, but Domercant hit another triple to push the lead to 8. Vazquez scored to make it 67-61, but Barcelona would not score the rest of the game.