Joan Penarroya's squad finish the regular season in fifth place and will play against Monaco
Barcelona fights off Virtus, 91-87, clinches playoff berth

FC Barcelona held off the visiting Virtus Segafredo Bologna in Round 34, pulling out a 91-87 win to clinch fifth place at the end of the regular season. Barcelona finished with a 20-14 record, the same as Efes and Real Madrid, but it wins out in the three-team tiebreaker due to its superior head-to-head record.
Barcelona trailed by 5 points late in the fourth quarter and 85-87 in the penultimate minute, but Jabari Parker and Joel Parker scored key close-range buckets, while Kevin Punter and Jan Vesely came up with huge defensive plays to help Barcelona win the game.
The hosts had six scorers in double digits, led by Punter’s 20 points. Justin Anderson had 12, while Tomas Satoransky collected 11 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds. Parra, Parker and Dario Brizuela scored 10 points apiece in the win. Tornike Shengelia scored 17 points, Justin Holiday had 16, and Will Clyburn netted 15 in defeat. Ante Zizic had 12 points and Isaia Cordinier netted 11 for Virtus.
Game Videos
The game started with offensive fireworks. Anderson had a triple, and Punter followed it with a fast-break layup, but Clyburn hit one from downtown, and after close-range baskets from Shengelia and Zizic, Clyburn’s second triple gave Virtus a 9-10 lead. But Barcelona was feasting on the visitors’ turnovers, as Punter nailed a triple and Anderson a tough baseline jumper, before Barcelona finished the quarter with a 9-2 run. Brizuela scored at the rim twice during that spurt, and Punter hit it from way downtown to make it 23-16 after 10 minutes.
Two more turnovers from Virtus, which got their turnover tally to 10, led to a basket from Parra and a three-point play from Punter, opening 28-16. But Holiday answered with back-to-back triples to halve the deficit. Parra and Shengelia traded three-point plays, and Vesely had a baseline jumper and a dunk, Anderson also had a two-handed dunk, before Parker’s jumper restored a double-digit lead, 41-31. But Zizic scored twice after offensive boards, only for Willy Hernangomez to reply with two buckets, including a big dunk, to help make it 45-38 at halftime.
Virtus scored the first two baskets of the third quarter to get within 45-42. But Anderson had a three-point play, and when Clyburn hit a three-pointer, Punter answered with a four-point play to open 54-45. However, Zizic scored twice inside and Clyburn once from the outside to keep Virtus close. Punter had a triple and another basket to make it 63-54, and after Clyburn and Satoransky traded triples, back-to-back threes from Holiday and Achille Polonara cut the margin to 66-63. But Jan Vesely, back for the first time after a lengthy absence, hit a three-pointer of his own to help make it 71-65 after 30 minutes.
Virtus kept charging, however, with Matthew Morgan sparking things with a three-pointer, then Holiday and Momo Diouf cutting it to 73-72. Shengelia’s baseline jumper put Virtus in front, 75-76, then Holiday had a fast-break dunk and a triple to extend the margin to 76-81. A dunk by Hernangomez and a triple from Brizuela tied things up, and teams proceeded to trade leads. Cordinier’s drive to the rim gave Virtus an 85-87 lead in the penultimate minute, but Parker scored with a soft touch from close range. Barca did not allow another basket, thanks to Punter forcing a jump-ball against Cordinier, and Vesely forcing Morgan to travel, while a layup from Parra and free throws from Parker won the game for the hosts, clinching them fifth place.