Barcelona conquers valuable road win in Tel Aviv

FC Barcelona Regal sent a message that echoed all around Top 16 Group F by downing Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 77-82 at Nokia Arena on Thursday. Barcelona reached the Top 16's halfway mark with a 6-1 record to remain alone in first place. Maccabi dropped to 2-5. Ante Tomic paced the winners with 18 points. Juan Carlos Navarro and former Maccabi legend Sarunas Jasikevicius each added 14 for Barcelona. Ricky Hickman led Maccabi with 19 points. Shawn James added 16 while Devin Smith and Yogev Oyahon each had 11 for the hosts. Maccabi opened the game with a 7-2 run, but Barcelona improved its defense and a three-pointer by Erazem Lorbek gave the guests their first lead, 13-14. Three-pointers by David Logan and Oyahon allowed Maccabi to get a 22-20 edge after 10 minutes. Barcelona found a go-to guy in Jasikevicius, who had 10 points in less than eight minutes to give Barcelona a 31-37 advantage. James and Hickman brought Maccabi within 39-41 at halftime. Navarro and Tomic combined for 18 third-quarter points as Barcelona boosted its margin to 53-67 after 30 minutes. A late run brought Maccabi within 77-80, but Tomic sealed the outcome from the foul line with 10.3 seconds left. In a pre-game ceremony, Maccabi honored guards Motti Aroesti, Guy Goodes, Chen Lippin, who were inducted to the club's Hall of Fame, and paid tribute to the recently deceased Jim Boatwright and Howie Lassoff with a short video.