Euroleague: Three earn spots in the Top 16
There was only one close contest in the first seven of 12 round seven games held Thursday in the Euroleague, but in those seven games, three Top 16 spots were determined and FC Barcelona Regal remained the only unbeaten club in the Euroleague regular season. So far, joining Barcelona (Group D) with seats at the Top 16 table are Unicaja from Group B, and CSKA Moscow in Group D. Friday, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Zalgiris Kaunas can grab their spots with wins against Montepaschi (on the road) and Caja Laboral (at home), respectively.
Group A
Fenerbahce – Union Olimpija, 85:68
Fenerbahce Ulker Instanbul took a big step towards the Top 16 yesterday when they pounded guest club Union Olimpija, 85:68, at home in front of an estimated 5,300 fans. The win moves Fenerbahce to 4-3 on the season with three contests remaining and tied for second with whomever loses Friday’s game between Real Madrid and BC Khimki (the winner will be in sole possession of first in the group). The loss drops Union to 2-5 and greatly diminishes their opportunity to move on. Ulker used an early 15:3 run to get themselves some breathing room to just play basketball without pressure. After the first frame they had built a 10-point advantage and kept the pressure on through the second quarter, nearly doubling the lead to 19 right before the half time buzzer. The visitors where able to drop in a deuce to cut the gap to 17, 43:26, at the break. The third quarter was uneventful with both squads exchanging baskets and ending up Union picking up a point to head into the final frame down 16, 64:48. The hosts poured it on in the fourth and expanded their margin to as much as 27 with under three minutes to go, but Union dropped in 10 of 11 from the free throw line enroute to a 2:12 run to close out the game to cut the margin to 17.
Top Scorers:
Fenerbahce: Bojan Bogdanovic 19; Bo McCalebb 13; Omer Onan 12; Emir Preldzic 11.
Union Olimpija: Dylan Page 23; Alen Omic 13; Aron Baynes 10.
Group B
Elan Chalon-Sur-Saone – Alba Berlin, 82:87
Alba Berlin picked up a critical road win over Elan Chalon yesterday to put them one game up on their French rivals. The win moves Alba to 3-4 and drops Elan to 2-5 with three contests remaining in the Euroleague regular season. Elan got the upper hand early, taking a 20:15 advantage after the first quarter, but Alba countered in the second and outscored their hosts 13:20 to head into the dressing room with a two-point lead, 33:35, at the half. The hosts covered the two-point deficit in the third to head into the final 10 with the score knotted at 53. Alba built a 10-point lead through the first seven minutes of the final frame. Elan cut that to four with a deuce and another jumper off a turnover, to cut the margin to six with less than three minutes on the clock. Things heated up at that point as the two squads starting tallying points as quickly as they could get down the floor. With just over a minute to play the Berlin boys still held a sizable lead, but a jumper and the three-ball after a steal cut the lead to three, 77:80. Another three from Elan and a pair of singles on the Alba end with 18.6 seconds to play set the score at 80:82. Heiko Schaffartzik dropped in a pair of singles for Alba, but Blake Schilb covered it with a jumper for Elan with 8.1 seconds to play, bringing the score to 82:84. Vule Avdalovic was fouled, but only made the first of the two free throws to push the Alba lead to three, Schlib got the rebound on the second to give Elan an opportunity for the tie, but stepped out of bounds to turn the ball over to their visitors. Zach Morley was fouled on the inbounds play and hit the cords with both charity tosses to ice the game. The win puts Alba in at worse fourth spot in Group B, but they could be sitting in third with Montepaschi if they lose to Maccabi Tel Aviv Friday. Schlib spent all 40 minutes on the court for Elan, dropped in 21 points and accumulated a performance index rating of 29 in the loss (players are not eligible for MVP honors if the performance comes during a loss). Yassin Idbihi led Alba with 16 points.
Top Scorers:
Elan Chalon-Sur-Saone: Blake Schilb 21; Brion Rush 21; Ilian Evtimov 13.
Alba Berlin: Yassin Idbihi 16; Heiko Schaffartzik 13; Vule Avdalovic 11; Dashaun Wood 11; Zach Morley 11; Deon Thompson 10.
Unicaja – Asseco Prokom, 63:48
Unicaja started making plans for their trip to the Euroleague Top 16 with a decisive 15-point victory over last place Asseco Prokom. The win moves Unicaja to 6-1 on the season, while Asseco drops to 1-6. The two teams battled to a 13-all score after the first from, but the hosts found their range in the second and grabbed an 11-point margin at the half, 34:23. They extended the gap further in the third and cruised to the win in the fourth.
Top Scorers:
Unicaja: Kosta Perovic 12; Earl Calloway 11.
Asseco Prokom: Adam Hrycaniuk 10.
Group C
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan – Cedevita Zagreb, 75:60
The Italian squad moved one step closer to a spot in the Euroleague Top 16 with a big win at home against Cedevita. The win puts Milan in four in the group at 3-4, while Cedevita drops to 2-5 and fifth. The difference in this contest was the third quarter, where the hosts ran up a 25:9 score on their guests to head into the fourth quarter with a 15-point lead. Milan shot 91.7% from the charity stripe (11 of 12), 54.8% from inside the arc (17 of 31), and 34.5% from long-range (10 of 34). Cedevita struggled from the free throw line, only putting in 12 of 22 (54.5%), as well as inside the arc where they were 15 of 39 (38.5%).
Top Scorers:
EA7 Emporio Armani Milan: Antonis Fotsis 15; Ioannis Bourousis 11; Keith Langford 11; Malik Hairston 10; Richard Hendrix 10.
Cedevita Zagreb: Miro Bilan 15.
Olympiakos – Anadolu Efes, 75:53
Defending Euroleague champs Olympiakos and Andadolu Efes came into this week seven match-up with equal 4-2 records and tied for second place in Group C. Olympiakos’ seems to have found their groove after a shaky 1-2 start to the season and have now won four straight with a solid win over Efes, 75:53. The win puts Olympiakos at 5-2, while Efes drops to 4-3 and third place in the group. The host club won all four quarters enroute to their 22-point victory as a solid defensive performance and a superior shot percentage from every stat category put the champs one step closer to the Top 16. The win also avenges a 26-point pounding Efes gave Olympiakos in week 2, but it doesn’t erase the deficit in the case of a potential tie-breaker, Efes still holds that advantage should it come down to it at the end of the regular season.
Top Scorers:
Olympiakos: Kostas Papanikolaou 17; Vassilis Spanoulis 14; Acie Law 10.
Anadolu Efes: Jamon-Alfred Lucas 15.
Group D
CSKA Moscow – Partizan, 78:61
CSKA also grabbed their seat in the Euroleague Top 16 with a big 17-point win over Partizan. The win keeps CSKA solidly in second place, with a 6-1 record, currently 2.5 games up on Besiktas, who will play Brose Baskets Friday. The loss keeps Partizan at the bottom of the group, tied with Lietuvos at 1-6. The first quarter was evenly played as the hosts pulled in a one-point advantage, 23:22. The second frame was the difference with the Russian squad grabbing an 11-point margin and a 12-point half time lead, 48:36. The second half also belonged to CSKA and the hosts gave the estimated 8,162 fans in attendance an opportunity to celebrate the good fortune of locking in a Top 16 spot with three weeks of the regular season left to be played.
Top Scorers:
CSKA Moscow: Sonny Weems 14; Dionte Christmas 13; Andrey Vorontsevich 12; Viktor Khryapa 11; Aaron Jackson 11.
Partizan: Vladimir Lucic 12; Dragan Milosavljevic 12; Drew Gordon 11.
FC Barcelona Regal – Lietuvos Rytas, 90:66
Barcelona remained the only squad in the 24-team Euroleague with an unblemished record as they pounded Lietuvos, 90:66 at home to improve to 7-0 on the regular season. The visitors put gave their hosts a good fight in the first half, coming from behind 27:18 in the first quarter to outscore Regal 15:27 in the second to take a 42:45 advantage into the locker room at the half. Barcelona owned the second half and outscored Lietuvos 48:21 in the last 20 minutes to finish off a 34-point victory. Lietuvos drops to 1-6 on the season with the loss. Ante Tomic’s 17 points and 28 PIR on the day sets him up as a contender for this weeks bwin Player of the Week.
Top Scorers:
FC Barcelona Regal: Juan Carlos Navarro 24; Ante Tomic 17; Pete Mickeal 15; Erazem Lorbek 11.
Lietuvos Rytas: Leon Radosevic 14; Nemanja Nedovic 12; Dejan Ivanov 11; Predrag Samardziski 10.