Spanish League: Barcelona closes gap on Real Madrid

Round 14 of Spanish Liga Endesa ACB action saw FC Barcelona make up ground on league leader and bitter rival Real Madrid. The Catalonian giant has been in more fruitful form domestically compared to a patchy Euroleague campaign. This week, Barcelona took out Valencia at home to move to 10-3 in the standings.

Barca is now on the coattails of Real Madrid as Los Blancos had an uncharacteristic defeat on the road to Sevilla. Still, the reigning Liga Endesa champs remain in sole possession of first place with an 11-2 record.

FC Barcelona vs. Valencia, 94-82

Valencia is one of the Liga Endesa challengers, so this was a test for Barcelona’s credentials. It was also a clash between second and third place. As it turned out, the hosts cruised to a relatively easy home win thanks to a huge first half. Barca took the first quarter 25-20 before taking command of the game with a 19-10 run in the second frame that made it 44-30 through halftime. Valencia improved considerably in the second half, winning the third act 27-28 and the fourth 24-25. The high-scoring second half was exciting, but the visitors could not turn it around in a bucket for bucket final stanza.

Tyrese Rice led Barcelona with 25 points, while Justin Doellman added 18 points.

Rafael Martinez and Luke Sikma secured 15 points apiece for Valencia, followed by 11 points from Will Thomas.

Sevilla vs. Real Madrid, 86-85

The general consensus in the Liga Endesa in 2016 is to beat Real Madrid, you have to do it away from the Spanish capital. The champs have been unbeaten at home all year, but on the road Los Blancos is more vulnerable. That showed this week as the club lost in Seville, just its second defeat of the season so far. Sure, Real Madrid pushed Sevilla to the wire, but a loss is a loss and now Madrid looks over its shoulder to Barcelona. Madrid was actually 60-69 in front through thirty minutes of play, but Sevilla hit back with 26 fourth quarter points. The hosts beat the final buzzer to snatch the game.

Rasid Mahalbasic and Trent Lockett topped Sevilla with 16 points each, while Nikola Radisevic secured 15 points.

Sergio Llull led the losing effort with a game high 20 points, with Gustavo Ayon and Felipe Reyes netting 12 points each. Reyes made his a double-double by adding 11 rebounds.