The visitors ground out a most dramatic win thanks to an audacious late shot from downtown
Barcelona continues to haunt Partizan as Will Clyburn sticks the knife in
Game Report
3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 8 of 38
Regular Season
Partizan Mozzart Bet BelgradePAR
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FC BarcelonaBAR
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The word “luck” came up time and again after FC Barcelona eked out an astonishing 76-78 victory from the jaws of defeat at Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, but there was more to it than just a roll of the dice as Will Clyburn struck a dagger into the hearts of the home team’s fans.
The 25-year-old forward, who joined Barca during the off-season from Virtus Segafredo Bologna, made his most telling contribution yet for the Catalan giant as he buried a deep three-pointer from just inside the opposition half to settle a rip-roaring contest inside Belgrade Arena.
With 32 seconds left on the clock and Barcelona’s final play of the game heading nowhere, Clyburn stepped back to give himself some space and unleashed a scorcher with Tyrique Jones in his face, hitting nothing but net to silence a fervent home crowd.
It was a fitting finale as Partizan’s top performer got undone by Barcelona’s trump card, with the visitors stretching their unbeaten run against Partizan to 12 games dating back to 2010. Disconsolate home fans left the gym in a hurry, but there was little or no gloating on Barcelona’s part after a heart-stopping climax.
“I am very happy because the team showed character,” said visiting head coach Joan Penarroya, visibly relieved as Barca improved to 5-3 while Partizan dropped to 3-5 after a third straight loss. “It was a 50-50 game, Will scored an amazing shot, and today we got lucky. We didn’t play well on offense in the first half as we had 9 turnovers, but we regained our focus in the second and played solid defense,” he added.
Clyburn’s heroics overshadowed the valiant effort of Barcelona’s big man Toko Shengelia, who tormented his markers throughout and claimed the player of the game accolade with 24 points, 5 boards and as many assists. The Georgian was a handful in the paint offensively, with Tomas Satoransky netting 11 points for the visiting team while former Partizan players Kevin Punter and Jan Vesely added 10 each.
Duane Washington scored a team-high 21 points for Partizan while the ferocious Jones racked up 15 to go with 13 boards and 7 assists, falling just short of a triple-double as the hosts came agonizingly close to victory only to see it slip through their fingers.
Shengelia attributed the win to Barcelona’s willpower which came to the fore when the Spanish outfit needed it most, having fought back from a 10-point deficit to force the final twist.
“It was a huge team win as we never gave up and we knew from the beginning the game was going to be so tough,” Shengelia said. “It’s always tough to come here and face this crowd as well as Coach Obradovic’s team. We still have a lot of room to improve but we’re heading in the right direction.”
Having dealt the killer blow, Clyburn acknowledged that the manner in which Barcelona ground out the win could provide for a massive stepping stone in what is shaping up to be a fiercely competitive EuroLeague season.
“It was a game of runs, the atmosphere was crazy and I guess you could say we got lucky in the end with that shot but it just happens sometimes,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “It’s a long season, we want to get better with each game so hopefully we can build on this and continue to grow as a team.”
Surprisingly enough, coach Zeljko Obradovic gave no time on the floor to Partizan’s sharpshooting forward Jabari Parker against his former club. Parker had sprained his finger on Sunday in a regional ABA league game but was declared fit after returning to practice on Monday, and Obradovic confirmed at the Barca post-game press conference that keeping Parker on the bench throughout was his decision.
With a grim look on his face, Obradovic lauded his men’s effort and blamed a couple of moments where lady luck turned its back on Partizan, as Sterling Brown’s layup trickled out of the rim at one end while Clyburn’s long-range missile went in at the other.
“I can only congratulate my players for the effort but we just had no luck tonight, it was on Barcelona’s side. Congrats to them, they earned it. Clyburn drained an incredible shot, Tyrique was right in his face but it went in and there’s nothing we could do about it.”
