Euroleague: Milan qualifies to next stage

There is just one more week left of the Euroleague Regular Season after another round of action in Week 9, and with there still plenty to play for it is promising to be an exciting finale to the first group phase.

There are five more Last 16 places up for grabs next week with only Group D already decided. In Group A Nanterre still has a fighting chance of qualification despite losing on the road to Kiev on Friday evening. EA7 Milan became the latest Last 16 qualifier from Group B with a very tight home win against Bamberg, while also in the group runaway leaders Real Madrid continued to impress.

Galatasaray has already qualified from Group C but the Turkish team still strode to a comfortable home victory over Stelmet Gora, while in Group D Panathinaikos downed Lokomotiv to pick up the only road win of the night.

Group A

Budivelnik Kiev vs. JSF Nanterre, 97-87
JSF Nanterre slipped to defeat at the hands of Budivelnik Kiev away from home on Friday evening to put the club´s Euroleague ambitions in the balance. With Barcelona, CSKA Moscow, and Fenerbahce already qualified there is just one Last 16 place up for grabs in Group A. Nanterre shares a 3-6 record with Partizan NIS but the French team will need to beat Fenerbahce next week and hope that CSKA defeats Partizan to progress. Budivelnik Kiev has struggled this campaign but gave the home fans one last hoorah to improve to 2-7 at the bottom of the table.

Group B

EA7 Emporio Armani Milano vs. Brose Baskets Bamberg, 74-73
EA7 Milan booked its place in the next round of the Euroleague with a narrow home win over German champions Bamberg. Milan now sits in second place in a Group that has been dominated by Real Madrid, although Milan now holds a steady 5-4 record. Brose Baskets Bamberg stays in fifth position, but now with a 3-6 record.

The German club knew that victory would give its own Last 16 chances a great push and the team set about claiming a road win by snatching the first quarter 20-23. The visitors stretched the lead to six early in the second period but Milan responded with a solid display throughout the second quarter to hold a 37-34 advantage at halftime. It was the hosts turn to lengthen a lead early in Q3 by taking a six point advantage, but Bamberg replied with a good finish to the period to hold a 51-52 lead heading into the final 10 minutes. It remained extremely close throughout the fourth quarter as Milan and Bamberg traded for the lead, however the hosts found two free throws with the clock winding down to grab a vital home victory.

Gani Lawal was outstanding for Milan and collected 17 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Other high scorers for the winners were Alessandro Gentile with 16 points and Keith Langford with 15.

Bamberg kept pace in a game where no team led by more than 9 points, thanks to 15 points from Anton Gavel, 14 from Novica Velickovic, and 13 from Rakim Sanders.

Real Madrid vs. Strasbourg, 79-66
Real Madrid ended Strasbourg´s dreams of a Euroleague Last 16 place with another cruising victory in the Spanish capital. Los Blancos put together two 13-3 runs in the second quarter to make this a very comfortable game and to send the team 9-0 at the top of Group B. French club Strasbourg now sits bottom with a 2-7 record, but the club can console itself with a place in the Last 32 of the Eurocup.

Group C

Galatasaray Liv Hospital vs. Zielona Gora, 76-57
Galatasaray qualified to the next phase of the Euroleague last week and in week 9 the Turkish club could relax and put on a show for the home fans. Gala picked up a comfortable victory over Gora on Friday to drop the Polish club from Last 16 contention and send them to the Eurocup Last 32. Galatasaray improves to 6-3 in second place in Group C, while Gora is rooted to the bottom of the table with 2-7.

Group D

Lokomotiv Kuban vs. Panathinaikos, 63-82

Panathinaikos recorded the only road win of Friday and only the second of Week 9 by defeating Russian surprise package Lokomotiv Kuban. Both teams have already qualified but Panathinaikos would have viewed the game as crucial as the team recovers from a rocky start to the season, and The Greens now move into third with 5-4. Lokomotiv qualified two weeks ago and the Euroleague debutants have eased off the gas since then to sit second in Group D with a 6-3 record.

The Greek giants would have known the Russian hosts were no pushovers and started quickly by taking a 0-6 lead early in the first 10 minutes. The Kuban players woke from that shaky start to bring themselves back into the game and to actually lead 23-21 after the first quarter. The second period proved to be pivotal in the direction of the game as Panathinaikos found another gear to swamp Lokomotiv and hold a 30-46 lead at halftime. That 16 point midway cushion gave the Greek visitors a platform and the team never looked back, dominating throughout the third quarter to take a 44-66 advantage into the final stanza. Lokomotiv could not get close in the fourth quarter with Panathinaikos in full control, meaning the game was over well before the 40 minutes were up.

In what was arguably Panathinaikos´ best performance in the Euroleague this season, Antonis Fotsis and Roko Ukic had 17 points each. Ramel Curry added 13 points, Dimitris Diamantidis logged 12 points, 7 assists and 3 steals in a good all round performance, Mike Bramos claimed 11 points and Stephane Lasme 10.

November´s MVP Derrick Brown could not find his touch and was restricted to just 8 points for Lokomotiv, although Simias Jasaitis got 13 points in the losing effort.