Joan Penarroya said he liked the atmosphere in the Stark Arena, but not the game officials' performance. The coach of FC Barcelona named the two mistakes he thinks the refs made in the contest's closing minutes.
After a great game that was decided in overtime, FC Barcelona escaped from Belgrade with a narrow 98-94 win over hosts Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
30
|
| Kevin Punter | |
| Points | 26 |
| Accuracy | 10-13 |
| Rebounds | 0 |
| Assists | 3 |
In the last seconds of regulation, Kevin Punter hit a 3-pointer to make it 84-82, Yago dos Santos tied the score and Punter missed the game-winning shot. Extra time followed. Zvezda led 93-90, before Nicolas Laprovittola and Kevin Punter turned things around.
Three turnovers by the hosts (an offensive foul by Nemanja Nedovic, and two mistakes by Rokas Giedraitis and Joel Bolomboy) allowed Punter to put an end to the drama.
When all was said and done, the two teams were sharing the same record (3-1) in the EuroLeague standings.
"At the beginning we had problems defending the 3-point shot, and Red Star scored with very good percentages, but the important thing is that the team fought for 45 minutes, had a very good attitude and in the end we took a game that could have gone to either side," Joan Penarroya commented postgame.
"It's not easy to win in Belgrade," the Catalan coach stressed, and further emphasized that "it's always a pleasure to play in Belgrade with this atmosphere." Penarroya also called Friday's victory "great" in "an incredible match for all basketball fans."
Penarroya said the referees made "two mistakes in a row" in the final seconds of the last quarter by handing him a technical foul for protesting and, immediately after, correcting Zvezda's shot clock from 24 to 14 seconds, after checking the monitor.
"These are things that happen in basketball and I don't want to make a big deal out of it," Barca's coach commented. "Luckily, Isaiah Canaan missed the free throw," he added.
Kevin Punter finished with a game-high 26 points on 10/13 from the field, 2/2 free throws, 3 assists, 4 steals and a PIR of 30 in just 27 minutes of action. Jan Vesely added 19 points on 8/12 shooting and 5 rebounds in 27 minutes of play.
Penarroya argued that the two former Partizan players were highly motivated to play against their ex-team's main rivals.
"Kevin Punter is a great player," he said. "I am satisfied with the game he played, and it was evident that he was extra motivated as a former Partizan player, just like Jan Vesely. Still, this is a team win.
In EuroLeague Round 5, Zvezda will host Real Madrid, while Barcelona welcome LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne.
