Punter Leads Barcelona Past Olimpia Milano 89-81 in EuroLeague

Olimpia Milano dropped to an 81-89 defeat against Barcelona, failing to build on its recent domestic momentum in EuroLeague play as defensive lapses and a third-quarter collapse cost the Italian side.

Barcelona Takes Early Control Against Olimpia

Barcelona took control early by converting six of its first seven field goal attempts and cleaning up missed shots with crucial offensive rebounds. Joel Parra fueled the Catalan side’s opening surge from the corners with two 3-pointers, establishing a visiting rhythm that Olimpia struggled to disrupt. There were immediately four tied situations featuring a 3-pointer from Thompson and three free throws by Burnell. Olimpia grew somewhat frustrated midway through the period over missed shots, uncontrolled rebounds, and referee calls, allowing Barcelona and Tyrese Martin to stretch the margin to eight points. Olimpia Milano gradually closed the gap, finishing the first quarter behind by two, 21-23, following a 3-pointer from Devin Booker.

Kevin Punter Secures Barcelona Victory

The visitors seized control permanently in the third period by exploiting second-chance opportunities and capitalizing on Milano’s offensive stagnation. A moment of discouragement generated a 16-point deficit, mirroring previous occurrences earlier in the season, before Jason Burnell sparked a brief home rally with three consecutive 3-pointers to whittle the deficit down. The margin was cut to seven points only due to a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Gibson, making it 64-71, but Kevin Punter took control of the floor down the stretch to secure the 89-81 victory for Barcelona.

Kevin Punter Leads Barcelona Scoring

Kevin Punter led all scorers with 17 points for Barcelona, supported by Gibson with 13 points, Tyrese Martin with 14 points and 7 reb, Umude with 7 points, Robinson with 10 points and 8 ast, Nkamhoua with 4 points, Minaya with 1 point, Nebo with 11 points and 5 reb, and Parra with 12 points and 6 reb, while Nunez and Evbuomwan did not play under coach Sekulic. For Olimpia Milano, Jason Burnell paced the scoresheet with 15 points alongside Cole with 9 points and 5 ast, Wright with 6 points, 8 reb, and 4 TO, Bolmaro with 12 points, Thompson with 12 points, Hall with 5 points, Guduric with 2 points, Mathews with 3 points, Peters with 13 points, and Booker with 4 points, while Diop and Ricci did not enter. Coach Poeta’s squad shot 17-18 in the final frame but could not recover from the double-digit deficit built during the middle quarters, with quarter scores reading 21-23, 19-21, 24-27, and 17-18 as the team failed to unlock its EuroLeague campaign following the strong showing against Napoli.