Take one look at FC Barcelona's star-studded roster and Mike Tobey's name doesn’t exactly jump off the page. The 28-year-old American is the Blaugrana's third-choice center, but on Wednesday night, he showed what he can offer with 13 points in a Game 3 closeout victory at Zalgiris Kaunas.
Tobey had 4 points and 1 rebound to his name approaching the final stages of the third quarter, having played limited minutes behind Jan Vesely and Sertac Sanli. Yet, in the final 2:04 of the quarter, the 2.13-meter center put his fingerprints on the game with 3 triples in quick succession as Barca opened a game-high 16-point lead, 45-61.
In particular, the first of those proved key. Zalgiris was doing its best to stay as close as possible to Barca, with Isaiah Taylor's layup making it a 7-point ballgame, 43-50, but back-to-back three-pointers by Tobey gave the visitors some breathing room. It seemed as though Tobey's third triple was going to be the final basket of the third quarter, but Lukas Lekavicius beat the buzzer with a triple of his own to make it a 13-point contest entering the final period.
