2019-20Regular SeasonRound 5
October 30, 2019 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Barca stays perfect as Valencia loses again

FC Barcelona maintained its perfect start to the season by overcoming Valencia Basket 83-77 in an exciting Spanish derby at the Palau Blaugrana, condemning the last-placed visitors to a 0-5 record. It was an intense and closely-fought battle throughout with neither team able to move into a commanding lead until Cory Higgins struck a clutch three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining, giving Barca 6-point margin and sealing the outcome. Higgins top scored with 20 points – half of them from the foul line – while Nikola Mirotic added 17 points and 7 rebounds and Adam Hanga paired 13 points with 6 assists. Jordan Loyd made 4-of-6 three-pointers on his way to a team-high 17 points for Valencia, and Bojan Dubljevic had a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Maurice N’Dour and Fernando San Emeterio both scored 11 points in defeat.

Loyd’s first triple was the early highlight as Valencia quickly showed they had come to compete, but a long-range strike from Victor Claver pulled Barca level. Loyd’s second triple gave Valencia a 9-13 edge, but a 6-0 run featuring 4 points from Mirotic pulled the home team back, and Alex Abrines opened up a 21-15 lead with a quickfire pair of deep strikes. Free throws made it closer, and Valencia went inside to Brock Motum and N’Dour to tie it at 25-25 early in the second quarter. Another three-pointer from Loyd gave the visitors a narrow advantage, but Higgins and Mirotic struck near the end of the second quarter to make it 44-41 at the break. San Emeterio converted almost identical three-pointers early in the third quarter, and a three-point play by N’Dour edged Valencia to 52-54. Dubljevic provided 6 quick points as the scoring continued to be evenly shared, and Quino Colom fired a three-point buzzer-beater to make it 62-65 at the end of the third. Hanga netted 5 points in 50 seconds to force another lead change, and Kyle Kuric struck from deep to make it 74-68 with 5 minutes remaining. San Emeterio and Loyd kept the visitors in contention heading into crunch time, but inside the final minute free throws from Brandon Davies and a triple from Higgins secured a hard-earned win for the hosts.

Crunch time makes the difference

Although this game was extremely closely fought throughout, Barcelona had the edge when it mattered the most at the end of each half. The home side ‘won’ the last minute of the second quarter 7-0, and prevailed 7-2 in the final minute of the game.

Valencia erases rebounding frailties

Barcelona headed into the game with a huge advantage in rebounding, averaging a league-best 39.8 points per game compared to just 32.0 for Valencia. But the visiting team showed a great effort to wipe out that difference, and the game finished with Barcelona winning the rebounding battle by the narrowest of margins, 37-36.

Hanga does it all

Adam Hanga was a key performer for Barcelona, with the team’s backcourt injury problems again forcing him to play in an unfamiliar point guard position. He executed that task very well, leading his team with 6 assists and also recording 13 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

Next round

Barcelona will look to make it six wins out of six with a road trip to face fellow high-fliers AX Armani Exchange Milan on Friday evening. Valencia will welcome LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne to the Fonteta on the same night.

Cory Higgins - FC Barcelona - EB19
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; DIFALLAH, MEHDI; FOUFIS, IOANNIS
Attendance: 5734
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona21231821
Valencia Basket19222412
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona21446283
Valencia Basket19416577
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 22:12 8 3/7   2/2 1 6 7 1   2     3 2 9
8 HANGA, ADAM 30:18 13 3/3 1/3 4/4 1 2 3 6 2 1     3 3 21
10 SMITS, ROLANDS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 11:18         1   1             1 2
21 ABRINES, ALEX 17:15 8 1/1 2/3     5 5           2 2 12
22 HIGGINS, CORY 33:52 20 2/3 2/4 10/12   3 3 1   3   1 2 6 19
24 KURIC, KYLE 23:39 9 3/5 1/2     1 1 1 1 2 1 1 3   4
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 9:22 3 0/2 1/1     1 1           3   -1
31 BOLMARO, LEANDRO 5:34 2 1/2 0/2         2         2   -1
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 30:50 17 5/8 1/6 4/4 1 6 7 3         1 5 23
44 TOMIC, ANTE 15:40 3 1/4   1/2 2 4 6     2   1 2 1 1
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 83 19/35 8/21 21/24 7 30 37 14 3 10 1 3 21 20 92
        54.3% 38.1% 87.5%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV
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
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COLOM, QUINO 18:21 9 1/2 1/4 4/4       3   2     1 2 7
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 15:11 5   1/3 2/2 1 1 2     1       1 5
3 LOYD, JORDAN 28:17 17 2/6 4/6 1/2   4 4 1   3     4 2 10
5 NDOUR, MAURICE 17:00 11 4/8   3/3 3 1 4   2       2 5 16
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 23:58 2 1/1 0/2   1 5 6   1   2   4   5
12 MOTUM, BROCK 16:02 8 4/8 0/2   2   2           3   1
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 23:00 12 4/8 0/2 4/4 4 6 10 2 3 1 1 1 1 5 24
16 VIVES, GUILLEM 23:28     0/2   1 2 3 2   1     2 2 2
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 23:54 11 1/5 3/5     2 2 1 2         3 13
30 SASTRE, JOAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
42 DOORNEKAMP, AARON 10:49 2   0/4 2/2 1   1 1         3 1 -2
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 77 17/38 9/30 16/17 13 23 36 10 8 8 3 1 20 21 83
        44.7% 30% 94.1%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME

Head Coaches

PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona
“In a short time this is our third game against Valencia. We are happy because one more time we gave our best in a tough moment, and I want to say congratulations to my guys for their energy and concentration. They didn’t give up and I like this very much. I enjoyed this game, because the best way to improve is playing close games. We had very good balance in five against five situations and in our transition play. Now we prepare for the next game in Milan.”
PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
“I think we competed well against a very good team. Without the last minute of the second quarter and the last minute of game, the victory was probably ours. We competed at a high level throughout the game, with a lot of determination, and never let the game get out of control. We just lost our consistency in the final minute of both halves. We have to take the good things out of the game.”

Players

HANGA, ADAM
FC Barcelona
"Obviously, it was hard work until now but it doesn't mean anything. This is basicly the beginning of the season - it is a good start but it doesn't mean that we are going to finish first. First of all, we are going to have to keep up the good work like we do collectively, as a whole team, and also, the injured players are going to be back, because it is a long road and there are a lot of games ahead, a lot of games left in this competition. For example, this week we have two more games, so it is going to be tough. Obviously, we are happy for being first in the EuroLeague because it has been a while since Barcelona has been in this position."
MIROTIC, NIKOLA
FC Barcelona
"It was a big game for us. We had already played twice against Valencia and this was the third time. All the games we won basically at the end, in the last minutes, so I am very happy with our performance. We just need to keep playing, improving as a team. It was a good day. Spanish teams are very good and there are no easy games. But once again, we knew how to close the game. It is all about our defense, about our spirit. Coach did a great job making some adjustments. I am very thankful - the team does a great job and Cory's shot was big time for us. We just need to keep playing."
NDOUR, MAURICE
Valencia Basket
"I think we really fought. We showed our character. Offensively and defensively we were executing. And we were moving the ball pretty well. We are 0-5, but we have to show that we come out every game, and play hard. The win will come as long as we play like this. Today was a tough game, tough loss, but we will learn from our mistakes and go back and improve, and get ready for ASVEL."
VIVES, GUILLEM
Valencia Basket
"It was a close game against the competition's leader. I think we worked well for many minutes, competing and matching their physical level, and playing very good basketball against their defense. In the end, due to details and them hitting tough shots against our good defense, they got a 5-6 point lead, and we were not able to come back."
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