Euroleague Round 3: Four Remain Undefeated

Eight squads came into Round 3 of Euroleague 2012-13 play with 2-0 records. After Thursday’s eight games, four of those teams suffered their first losses, with two of them coming on their home courts – EA7 Emporio Armani Milan falling to previously winless Caja Laboral Vitoria by 10 at the Milan Mediolanum Forum, and Fenerbahce Ulker losing to Real Madrid at Fenerbahce Ulker Sports Arena.

Friday’s action will see Mapooro Cantu hosting BC Khimki Moscow Region, Union Olimpija Ljubljana entertaining Panathinalkos Athens, Unicaja Malaga taking on Montepaschi Siena at home, and Anadolu Efes Istanbul welcoming Cedevita Zagreb to Turkey.

Group C
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan – Caja Laboral Vitoria 85:95
Although the score shows Milan dropping this contest by 10, the game was a series of lead changes and extended scoring runs that most likely would have gone on all night if only there hadn’t been a game clock attached to the contest. The Italians just ran out of time as the final 11-point run Caja put together mid-way through the fourth quarter was too much for them to make up.

The first frame saw the visitors twice build small margins of five and four points, only to have their hosts counter them. After the first 10 minutes, Milan owned a one-point advantage, 19:18.

Milan was able to amass an 11-point lead in the second quarter after tallying 12 unanswered points. The visitors were able to take advantage of a foul/technical foul combination by Antonis Fotsis to sink four free throws and a triple on the possession for a seven-point swing that gave Caja the lead back. A Malik Hairston drive and bucket on the next trip down the floor closed out the scoring for the half with Milan still up by one, 44:43.

Armani built up a five-point lead mid-way in the third, but a hard foul on Andres Nocioni that resulted in him being carried off the court on a stretcher, set up five-point swing for Caja. Brad Oleson came in to replace Nocioni and dropped in the two free throws, then came down on the next trip and drained a three-pointer to knot the score at 55. Ioannis Bourousis put Milan back up by two with a lay-up and Oleson countered with a jumper to tie things back up again. Two minutes later, Oleson was putting his warm-ups on for the night after committing his fifth foul. Alessandro Gentile dropped in a lay-up right before the buzzer, to put the hosts up by one, 66:65, going into the final 10.

“My teams have been always been good competitors and defenders. We showed tonight we have to improve a lot on our defensive attitude. We have to be ready to compete for all 40 minutes. After the technical foul on Fotsis, our concentration decreased and the momentum changed. Congratulations to them for their win,” commented Armani coach Sergio Scariolo after the contest.

After exchanging three-pointers and swapping a pair of singles for a jumper, Caja took advantage of a series of Milan mistakes, including four missed three-pointers, to drop in 11 unanswered points to go up 71:81 mid-way through the quarter. The hosts finally found their range from behind the arc and hit two key treys late in the frame, but got a jumper from behind the arc along with sinking six of six from the charity stripe in the last minute, sealed the road win for Caja, 85:95.

“I’m very happy and proud of my team win; we played a good game,” stated Caja coach Dusko Ivanovic. “It was very important to win after last week’s defeat against Zalgiris at home. We know them very well after playing twice in the pre-season and I think our tough defense was in the end the key to winning.”

Nemanja Bjelica paced the winners with 20 points and nine rebounds, Fernando San Emeterio added 18 points, Nocioni and Maciej Lampe contributed 12 points each, and Carlos Cabezas dropped in 11.

EA7 got 22 points and 11 rebounds from Bourousis, 19 points from Hairston, 13 from Keith Langford and 10 from Gentile.

Olympiacos Piraeus – Zalgiris Kaunas 61:79
Zalgiris took their contingent on the road to Greece to match-up with the defending Euroleague champs and not only came out still undefeated, they also gave Olypiacos their first loss in their home arena, Peace and Friendship Stadium, in the last 17 contests. The hosts seemed to be in control of the game during the first half, but Zalgiris took control in the second half and outscored the Greek squad 7:36 over a time-span between the third and fourth quarters, to come out with a substantial 18-point win and a 3-0 mark in Group C. The loss drops Olympiacos to 1-2.

Marko Popovic led Zalgiris with 16 points and Oliver Lafayette dropped in 10 in the win.

Kyle Hines paced Olympiacos with 15 points, Georgios Printezis contributed 12 points, Evangelos Mantzaris added 11, and Vassilis Spanoulis dropped in 10.

Group D
FC Barcelona Regal – Besiktas JK Istanbul 72:60
In a battle of unbeatens, Barcelona used a timely 8:0 run early in the third quarter to set up a solid second half performance for the hosts that gave them a share of the Group D lead after this 72:60 win over Besiktas.

The two clubs played to a 36:34 score after the first half, after Barcelona had opened up an early lead, only to have Besiktas counter and keep the game tight. The hosts ran off eight unanswered points to open up the second half through, which proved to be just too much for the visitors to make up as they found themselves down 53:46 heading into the last quarter. The home squad was able to extend their lead to 14 early on, but Besiktas fought back and cut the margin to five with three minutes to play. Barcelona got the next two baskets to seal the win and remain on top of the Group at 3-0, while Besiktas dropped to 2-1.

Joe Ingles of Barcelona commented, “They are a great team. They had two tough games that they won before this. I think our defense was pretty good and we shot the ball better than we have in previous games. Our defense is good; it’s what’s going to win us games. It was good to finish out a game with good defense for most of the game. We’re playing some okay basketball and getting better every week. ”

Nate Jawai scored 14 for Barcelona and the trio of Marcelinho Huertas, Pete Mickeal and Ante Tomic dropped in 11 each in the win.

Curtis Jerrells lead all scorers with 18 points for Besiktas, while Damir Markota contributed 10 to the losing cause.

CSKA Moscow – Brose Baskets Bamberg 76:67
CSKA Moscow entered the fourth quarter down by one and used a strong performance to outscore the Bamberg contingent 25:14 to preserve their unbeaten record and improve to 3-0. Bamberg’s loss drops their club to 0-3 on the year.

Sonny Weems continued his impressive Euroleague 2012-13 season with 17 points, Nenad Krstic and Vladimir Micov added 13 each to the win, and Viktor Khryapa contributed 10.

Bamberg got and 21 points from Bostjan Nachbar and 16 points from Sergerio Gipson.

Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius – Partizan mt:s Belgrade 69:61
Neither Lietuvos or Partizan had anything but a ‘0’ in the ‘W’ column coming into this contest, but the hosts used a solid second quarter, where they outscored Partizan by six, 17:11, to pick up their first Euroleague win of the year. The win puts Lietuvos at 1-2 on the season, while Partizan drops to 0-3.

The hosts got 14 each from Renaldas Seibutis and Predrag Samardziski, and 10 from Mindaugas Katelynas.

Partizan was led by Vladimir Lucic’s 17 points and Dragan Milosavljevic’s 12 points.

Group A
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul – Real Madrid 75:83
Fenerbahce welcomed the Madrid squad to Fenerbahce Ulker Sports Arena with hopes of getting their third ‘W’, but a slow first quarter put the vistors up early. At the end of the first half, Fenerbahce had cut the eight point deficit from the first 10 minutes to six, 36:42.

Madrid countered in the third quarter with a three-point advantage during the frame, to extend their margin back to nine points heading into the final quarter, 57:66.

The hosts gave their faithful hope early in the fourth quarter with a seven point run to pull to within two, 64:66. Madrid countered with tough defense for the rest of the way and key baskets to quickly regain their lead and hold on for the win, 75:83. The loss evens the clubs at 2-1 on the young season.

Rudy Fernandez dropped in 21 to lead the visitors to the win, Jaycee Carroll added 15 points, Mirza Begic contributed 14, Gergio Rodriguez tallied 12.

Omer Onan got 14 points for Fenerbahce, David Anderson added 13, zbo McCalebb and Emir Predzic contributed 12 each to the losing cause.

Group B
Elan Chalon-Sur-Saone – Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 61:90
Maccabi traveled to Le Colisee Arean in Chalon, France and earned themselves a clean record at 3-0 with a 61:90 victory over Elan. The guests built a 28:53 margin by halftime and cruised in the second half to earn the win.

David Logan lead the Tel Aviv squad with 17 points, Shawn James added 15, Lior Eliyahu contributed 14, and Devin Smith and Guy Pnini each dropped in 11.

Brion Rush and Shelden Williams tallied 12 each for Elan in the loss.

Asseco Prokom Gdynia – Alba Berlin 77:66
Asseco used big second and fourth quarters to pick up their first win on the Euroleague 2012-13 season and hand the visiting Berlin club their first loss. At halftime Asseco had a 32:29 advantage, which was reduced to one-point after the third from 52:51. In the fourth the hosts dropped in some key shots early in the forth quarter to build a lead that they kept extending throughout the quarter, outscoring Alba 26:16 during the final 10.

Jerel Blassingame picked up 16 points and 10 assists for the hosts, Mateusz Ponitka and Lukasz Koszarek got 12 each, and Frank Robinson contributed 10 to the win.

Dashaun Wood paced the Berlin squad with 18 points, Zach Morley added 13, Deon Thompson contributed 10.

Photos courtesy Euroleague