Latest:
sep 13 2026For thirty minutes, Ilerna Lleida played the final while Barcelona suffered through it. Gerard Encuentra's squad led from the opening quarter, built a nine-point advantage, and entered the final ten minutes with the lead. Then Kevin Punter and Joel Parra appeared, Barcelona put together a 30-18 run, and claimed their twenty-sixth Catalan title in front of 4,300 spectators at the Palau d'Esports Catalunya in Tarragona.
Lleida did what they hadn't done all tournament
The start was sloppy on both sides, with Barcelona leveraging their interior strength to go up six after a Punter basket (15-9). Then Melvin Ejim entered, hit two consecutive three-pointers, and Lleida strung together a 0-14 run that put them up eight (15-23).
The relevant stat is that this was their first game of the tournament with a halftime lead: in the group stage they had always trailed at the break. With Darius McGhee and Zacharie Perrin in control, they maintained command through the second quarter (30-38) against a Barcelona side without ideas, shooting poorly and burdened by turnovers. Three-pointers from Umoja Gibson and Stanley Umude evened things up somewhat, but halftime arrived at 40-44.
A third quarter with two warnings
The third period followed the same script, with Lleida sharper from three and Barcelona plagued by fouls. A flagrant foul by Tyrese Martin allowed the Lleida side to add five straight points—two free throws from Ejim and a three-pointer from McGhee—to reach their largest lead (53-62).
Only Punter and Justin Robinson's individual talent kept Barcelona in the game. And the bad news of the day arrived: Darío Brizuela suffered an injury with 51 seconds left in the quarter.
The final ten minutes
The fourth quarter started at 66-69 and became a different game. Joel Parra took control and, with two three-pointers, put Barcelona ahead for the first time since the opening quarter (72-71).
From there, defense did the rest. Aleksander Sekulic's squad shut down the Lleida offense, picked up the pace, and a Punter three-pointer made it 83-75 with five minutes left. Lleida had no answer.
Robinson finished with 19 points and was named the tournament's MVP. Parra had 21, Punter 14, and Josh Nebo 13. For Lleida, McGhee scored 18, Perrin 16, Ejim 14, and James Batemon 12.
What the title means
It's the first trophy of the season and comes before the official debut in the Supercopa Endesa, but the final itself made clear what the club already knew: with eleven new signings, assembling the team will take time. The squad competed on individual talent for three quarters and only functioned as a unit in the final stretch.
For Lleida, who had eliminated Joventut in the group stage and then knocked out Barcelona's path through Manresa, the final confirms that Gerard Encuentra's team arrives at the season in good form.
96 - Barcelona (18+22+26+30): Robinson (19), Brizuela (5), Umude (6), Parra (21), Nebo (13) -starting five-, Punter (14), Gibson (9), Martin (5), Nkamhoua (2), Núñez (-), Balcerowski (2) and Minaya (-).
87 - Ilerna Lleida (23+21+25+18): McGhee (18), Hughes (9), Rodríguez (4), Sanz (4), Perrin (16) -starting five-, Batemon (12), Ejim (14), Paulí (-), Shurna (5), Majauskas (5), Torrens (-) and Pou (-).
