Barcelona locks up first place after 24th straight Top 16 win

In a battle between Turkish Airlines Euroleague giants, FC Barcelona locked up first place in Top 16 Group E by downing Panathinaikos Athens 84-62 at home on Friday. Barcelona improved to 12-0, registered its 24th consecutive Top 16 win and its 31st straight Top 16 home triumph - both all-time Euroleague records. Panathinaikos dropped to 6-6 and a tie with archrivals Olympiacos Piraeus for third place in the Group. Erazem Lorbek and Alex Abrines scored 15 points apiece to lead the winners, while Ante Tomic added 11 points and 9 rebounds. Roko Ukic led Panathinaikos with 13 points and Dimitris Diamantidis added 11. Ukic shined early and got help from Dimitris Diamantidis and Mike Batiste to give Panathinaikos a 14-15 edge after 10 minutes. Batiste gave the Greens an 18-22 edge, but Barcelona improved its defense while Brad Oleson, Jacob Pullen and a three-pointer by Juan Carlos Navarro helped the hosts make it a double-digit game, 42-32, at halftime. Navarro took over after the break, getting plenty of help from Lorbek and Joey Dorsey to boost the hosts' lead to 64-46 through three quarters. Nothing changed since that moment, as Barcelona kept a safe margin until the final buzzer.