FC Barcelona 87-80 Partizan: Punter leads the way

An excellent Barça picked up an important win by beating Partizan 87-80 in the Euroleague. Joan Peñarroya's team will take great confidence from the victory, aided by the return of Kevin Punter who scored 25 points. 

Gathering speed

In the first of four crucial games remaining for the blaugranes, it could not have started much in worse fashion. Partizan raced into a 13-3 lead in the first quarter before Peñarroya decided to bring on Brizuela and Punter. 

Punter comes back in style 

After a month out through injury, Kevin Punter did not appear rusty at all and led a fightback that saw Barça claw back to 32-25 down at the end of the first period. The momentum of the game changed in the second period and Punter and Anderson combined to see the blaugranes ahead for the first time at 37-36. 

Before the break Chimezie Metu came on to add more scoring power and led the home side to an impressive 54-41 lead after limiting Partizan to just nine points in the period. 

Partizan steady the ship 

The Serbians brought themselves back into the contest with nine unanswered points to make it 65-61 and then 68-65. Barça held their nerve to take a 67-73 lead into the final period. A scrappy start to the fourth quarter saw the visitors come to within two points at 77-75. However, the calm hands of Satoransky helped the blaugranes to six points without reply to claim a 87-80 victory. The win leaves Barça in sixth place with 16 wins and 13 defeats with five games to go in the Euroleague regular season. 

MATCH STATS 

Barça: 87
Partizan: 80

Barça: Satoransky (11), Abrines (9), Parker (8), Parra (2) y Metu (16) - starting five - Punter (25), Anderson (7), Sarr (0), Brizuela (7), Hernangómez (2), Fall (0) and Villar (-).

Partizan: Carlik Jones (14), Marinkovic (11), Sterling Brown (16), Isiaha Mike (16) y Brandon Davies (11) - starting five - Ntilikina (5), Washington (0), Koprivica (-), Nakic (-), Pokusevski (0), Lakic (0) and Tyrique Jones (7).