Nachbar, Tomic lead Barcelona past Unicaja

FC Barcelona remained undefeated in Top 16 Group F and came a step closer to clinching first place by downing Unicaja Malaga 61-77 on the road in front of 10,600 fans on Friday. Barcelona improved to 11-0 and will seal first place with its next win - or the next loss by EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Unicaja dropped to 5-6 and is tied for fourth place. Bostjan Nachbar paced the winners with 16 points. Ante Tomic and Erazem Lorbek each scored 12 for Barcelona. Tomic added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Earl Calloway led Unicaja with 15 points. Mindaugas Kuzminskas added 13 while Vladimir Stimac had 11 for the hosts. Juan Carlos Navarro led an early 0-8 run, which allowed Barcelona to keep a 17-21 lead after 10 minutes. Barcelona kept excelling on defense and a dunk by Kostas Papanikolaou made it a double-digit game. Calloway and Kuzminskas brought Unicaja within 31-37 at halftime. An outstanding Marcelinho Huertas struck twice from downtown in a 0-8 run that gave Barcelona a 31-45 margin right after the break. Fran Vazquez and Kuzminskas rescued Unicaja, leading a 13-2 run that brought the hosts within 44-47 late in the third quarter. But Barcelona improved its defense, boosted its margin to 47-55 at the end of the third quarter and then again to 47-65 behind an unstoppable Nachbar to seal the outcome long before the final buzzer.