FC Barcelona secured a 99-91 victory against Rio Breogan to claim their seventh win, despite losing guard Kevin Punter to injury, ara.cat reported.
The Blaugrana squad erased an eight-point deficit, entering the final five minutes in a tie before dominating the second half with 60 points.
Coach Aleksander Sekulic pointed to resilience in the face of roster setbacks. “We did many things well to overcome the injuries,” Sekulic said.
Darío Brizuela marked his birthday by contributing 16 points to the winning effort.
Earlier in the week, Barcelona bounced back from consecutive road losses by defeating Unicaja 89-92 in an away fixture, according to es.ara.cat coverage. Kendrick Perry missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer that would have forced overtime for the hosts.
Sekulic acknowledged the demanding nature of the competition following the tight win. “We are playing much better and have achieved our first away victory in the ACB. We have understood that there are no easy games,” Sekulic said.
That victory required overcoming a 12-point deficit while playing without injured contributors Gibson, Núñez, Balcerowski, and Makoundou.
Kids&Us Manresa captured their first victory of the Liga Endesa campaign by edging Monbus Obradoiro 100-99 at Nou Congost after a second overtime period. JD Notae hit the decisive basket and matched the club’s ACB record with eight three-pointers.
Manresa coach Diego Ocampo addressed the emotional toll of the contest. “We won a very hard game on an emotional level,” Ocampo said, though he expressed strong dissatisfaction with the officiating.
The triumph marked a stark contrast to Manresa’s outing against Kosner Baskonia, where a 106-83 defeat left Ocampo lamenting a collapse after holding a lead with 16 minutes remaining. “We played very well for 26 minutes, but from then on we sank,” Ocampo said as reported by es.ara.cat.
FIATC Girona improved their season record by defeating Surne Bilbao 92-87, anchored by an 18-point performance from Mac McClung, ara.cat noted. “We didn’t play a fantastic game, but we have been good in terms of effort, resilience, and concentration,” summarized Moncho Fernández.
Girona later experienced a difficult Saturday away to Casademont Zaragoza in a 107-78 loss, where Fernández admitted his squad lowered their arms once the deficit grew too large.
Meanwhile, iLerna Lleida fell 93-98 at Barris Nord against Kosner Baskonia, with Gerard Encuentra stating that nobody in the locker room wanted to occupy their current position. Lleida subsequently dropped a 125-98 result to UCAM Murcia, prompting Encuentra to declare that winning without defense is impossible.
Asisa Joventut dropped a narrow 78-81 decision to Surne Bilbao at the Palau Olímpic, missing an opportunity to execute a final shot after late three-point misses from Emir Sulejmanovic and Nico Laprovittola, es.ara.cat reported. Dani Miret handed Nikola Radicevic his debut.
Miret assessed his team’s current standing following the defeat. “We are far from what we want to be. What happened is negative,” Miret said.
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