Valencia Basket 86-100 Barça: Three figure win

The basketball team claimed a commanding 86-100 victory at La Font de Sant Lluís, where no team had won this season. After a balanced start, they took control in a dominant second period with strong defence and a well-rounded scoring effort. Punter led the team in points (17) in a confidence-boosting win ahead of the Copa del Rey.

The game started at an electric pace, Barça closing the opening quarter with a +6 lead but it was in the second that they truly took over, Punter and Hernangómez making bug contributions to extending the advantage to +16 (37-52).

After halftime, Barça kept their composure in the back-and-forth exchanges, stretching the lead to +18 and holding off Valencia’s comeback attempts. In the blink of an eye, Punter pushed the margin to +19 (63-82) leaving little to be done in the final quarter other than making sure the huge margin held.

Metu opened the last period with a powerful dunk, and Barça sealed the game with a dominant +22. Having won somewhere where no other team had done so in ACB play this season, Barça now head into the Copa del Rey with raised confidence. That competition begins against Tenerife on February 13.

MATCH STATS

Valencia Basket, 86
Barça, 100

Valencia Basket: López-Arostegui (10), Ojeleye (5), Sestina (11), Reuvers (11), Jones (19), Badio (3), Padrilla (8), Costello (16), Puerto (3) & Marí (-)
Barça: Satoransky (12), Brizuela (10), Parra (4), Parker (11), Fall (11), Abrines (5), Metu (16), Hernangómez (9), Núñez (5), Punter (17) & Sarr (-)

Periods: 19-25; 18-27 // 27-30; 21-18

Referees: Emilio Pérez Pizarro, Francisco José Araña & Iyán González