Kevin Punter had to come to the rescue to defeat a struggling UCAM Murcia and seal Barça’s pass to the semifinals of the Copa del Rey in Valencia. There after the crossing between Real Madrid and Valencia (6:00 p.m.). The four Spanish teams that compete in the Euroleague The Barça team sweated victory against a rival that had defeated them twice this season in the League and that only gave in to Punter’s final push (20 points). Ennis’ 25 and Cacok’s 17 and 10 rebounds increased Barcelona’s classification in an agonizing way.
The triple with which Clyburn uncorked the game was a mirage for a Barça that failed in those early stages, orphaned from the start by the Satoransky and Punter players, that is, the car’s steering wheel and accelerator. Fall and Shengelia rolled up their sleeves to add inside in the face of errors from the outside and the push of a Murcia that is a bone. He may be centimeters shorter (2.01m) than his rivals under the basket, but Davontae Cacok attacks the basket without a drop of fear. The little big man was the spearhead of a team with fast legs and sharp fangs for penetration. Pascual rescued Punter from the bench and the boy from the Bronx sang seven points without fail as if it were nothing. Swords high, 20-19.
Vesely to the track. The night required all the pieces available in the Barça armory because the script copied the two league events of the season, that of a suffocating and uncomfortable duel for the Barcelona fans. Murcia plays with the knife between its teeth, shakes up each possession and sweeps the attacking front until Ennis or DeJulius sense a crack and rush headlong into any shirt that is in front of them or arm them from a distance. No other formula could work for Barça than to match that dose of energy. Vesely and Fall took turns before Cacok and Laprovittola degreased the doll, but Ennis had heated it up even more, another spring-loaded powder who was leading Brizuela and Punter head-on. Sito Alonso received his men like gladiators during a time-out. Martin crowned so much sweat with a three-pointer on the board before the break (42-44).
He couldn’t lock the door no matter how much Pascual had reviewed the lesson during the break. The defenses fell before the attacks and DeJulius and Ennis on one side and Clyburn and Shengelia on the other starred in a hectic exchange of baskets. That back-and-forth hustle and bustle made UCAM smile because Barça did not know how to impose the law of the strongest and the small fish became emboldened. It seemed that Sito Alonso’s team had a clearer plan while Pascual tested combinations in the laboratory. Barça was trailing Murcia, the Blaugranas frozen: two baskets in play in the last six minutes of the third quarter, both from Willy. The mobility with and without the ball of the Sito boys kept them in front before an exciting outcome (60-62).
A block by Willy on Forrest, a dunk by Parra and an attacking foul won by the center encouraged the Blaugranas and sent the game to a close. Punter was encouraged with another scoring explosion after missing a long time and Ennis did not want to be any less, in a trance from the perimeter. Cacok also wanted to say his in a packed Roig Arena (more than 15,000 spectators). Pure Copa del Rey basketball. And Punter territory, author of 11 points in the decisive quarter to rescue Barça towards a gigantic semifinals.
