FC Barcelona took a big step towards securing a postseason berth in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague after rallying from a 10-point deficit to beat Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade 87-80, as Kevin Punter returned from injury to haunt his former club.

The result means Barcelona improved its record to 16-13 and moved up to sixth while Partizan dropped to 15-14 and slid down to 10tth place after a second successive defeat, with the Serbian outfit now facing a do-or-die battle in the last five rounds of the regular season to clinch a spot in the business end of the competition.  

Punter, who joined Barcelona from Partizan during the off-season, sank a game-high 25 points, including 17 in a rip-roaring first half when Barcelona fought back to lead 54-41 at the interval having won a monster second quarter 29-9.

Chimezie Metu came up big with 16 points and 6 boards while Tomas Satoransky added 11 points, 3 assists and as many steals for Barca, which turned the matchup on its head after Partizan had raced into an early 0-8 lead and then extended the advantage to 13-23 and 22-32 in a flawless first quarter for the visitors.  

At the other end, Sterling Brown and Isiaha Mike netted 16 points apiece for Partizan, but both men were stifled out in a rugged and physical second half when baskets were hard to come by. Carlik Jones scored 14 while Vanja Marinkovic and Brandon Davies amassed 11 points each for the visiting team, which committed 10 turnovers and some of them turned out to be very costly.

EUROLEAGUE | SPORTAL