Euroleague: Olympiacos snaps Siena’s streak

The defending Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus picked up a huge road win over Montepaschi Siena on Thursday that evens the two squads in Group F with 7-4 records and three weeks remaining. With Maccabi Electra winning a one-point contest over BC Khimki MR, and Caja Laboral Vitoria defeating Fenerbahce Ulker, the No. 4 spot in the group just got a bit crowded with Khimki, Electra and Caja Laboral all coming out of Week 11 with 6-5 records. FC Barcelona Regal takes on winless Besiktas on Friday to complete Group F’s match ups. In Group E, Anadolu Efes held off winless Brose Baskets, who put up a valiant fight, but once again came up a mere three-points shy of their first Top 16 win. Efes moves to 9-2, so a loss Friday by Unicaja Malaga will clinch a spot in the quarterfinal round for Efes.

Group E
Anadolu Efes Istanbul – Brose Baskets, 89:86
It took and extra five minutes, but Anadolu Efes took another step towards advancing to the quarterfinal round when they held off a pesky Brose Baskets, 89:86, at home in front of 10,000 friendlies. Brose has still not found the formula they need to pick up a Top 16 victory, but they are playing solid basketball and just coming up short. For Efes, the win puts them in a situation that if Unicaja Malaga loses to Group E leader Real Madrid on Friday, a team that beat them 64:72 in Malaga, Spain, they will clinch a spot in the next round this week. For Unicaja to pull off a win in Madrid would be one of the biggest upsets of the Euroleague season, so Efes’ will most likely have the celebration ready and will be watching as a club…

The hosts got out to the early lead, dominating the first frame to head into the second with a 23:14 lead. That would be the last 10-minute period that Anadolu would win though, as Brose started picking off points from their deficit a bit at a time. In the second they outscored their hosts 21:23, to head into the dressing rooms at the half down seven, 44:37.

The German club got things on track in the third frame, including running off nine unanswered to pull to within one, 59:58 at the end of the third 10.

Efes got up by six early in the fourth, only to have the guests counter with six straight to knot the score at 66. The clubs exchanged baskets for the rest of the quarter, with Bostjan Nachbar dropping in a lay-up with just under a minute to play that proved to be the last points that would be scored in regulation. Brose had a lay-up roll out of the hoop that would have won it, but the clubs ended up heading into OT with the score tied at 76.

Anton Gavel opened scoring in the extra frame with a lay-up, and Dusko Savanovic countered with a triple for Efes. Semih Erden split a pair of singles to push Efes up by two, then Jordan Farmar dropped a jumper to extend the hosts lead to four, 82:78. Nachbar connected on a pair of free throws to draw within two, then Erden sank a deuce to put the margin back to four. Nachbar and Farmar knocked down consecutive three-balls on opposite ends and with seconds left on the clock Brose was forced to foul, which put Savanovic on the line for a pair, which he dropped in both for a six-point lead. As time was expiring, Nachbar hit another triple to cut the margin to three, but there was no time for any last second heroics and Efes had their ninth win in the Top 16, leaving Brose still on the hunt for their first.

Farmar was game-high for Anadolu with 29 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a PIR of 26 on the night. Savanovic added 14 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals. Jamon-Alfred Lucas contributed 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 11 assists.

Nachbar led Brose with 24 points, Maik Zirbes added 14, the trio of Casey Jacobsen (4 rebounds, 8 assists), Karsten Tadda, and Jeremiah Massey (6 rebounds) dropped in 12 each.

Group F
Montepaschi Siena – Olympiacos Piraeus, 67:68
Olympiacos Piraeus continued on their road back to the later playoff rounds with a big win on the road against Montepaschi Siena, 67:68. The win breaks Siena’s 5-game home Euroleague win streak, but more importantly hands Siena their fourth loss in their last six games, after starting the Top 16 with five straight wins. For Olympiacos, the win is their seventh victory in eight games, which comes off a 1-3 start to Top 16. Olympiacos has a semi-tough schedule to complete the Top 16 with a home game against Maccabi Electra in Week 12, a road game at Fenerbahce Ulker Arena in Week 13, and they close the round with a home matchup against the tough BC Khimki MR in Week 14. Siena will finish with winless Besiktas in Week 12, group leader Barcelona Regal in Week 13, and a club that has quarterfinal aspirations in Caja Laboral in Week 14.

The guests built an early 4:12 lead, but had that erased when Kristjan Kangur dropped a triple for Montepaschi and David Moss sliced the defense for a lay-up. Matt Janning dropped a three-ball at the end of the quarter to give Siena the lead heading into the second frame, 18:17.

Siena carried the momentum over into the second and were able to extend their lead to 10, 36:26. The visitors cut that in half with a triple and a tip-in, then continued the road back with another triple and a jumper to close out the half with a 1:10 scoring drive for the Reds, to send the clubs to the break with Siena up on, 37:36.

The hosts opened the second half with a 10:3 run, to put them up 47:39. Olympiacos fought hard to pull the hosts back in and were able to cut the gap to five, 54:49 at the end of the third.

The Reds took over in the fourth quarter, getting the lead back and then extending it to seven, 61:68 with a couple of minutes to play. Montepaschi’s shooters came alive then, with a Janning long-ball and a Moss triple, to cut the lead to one, 67:68, with half a minute to play. Olympiacos ran the clock down as much as they could, before Acie Law put up a long-ball that he came up empty on that Janning hauled in the rebound, but Siena couldn’t get a shot off and fell a point short, locking them up with the defending champs in the Group F standings at 7-4 and tied for the No. 2 spot in the group.

No one player led the way for Olympiacos, but a pair of players had 11 points, Kostas Papanikolaou and Kostas Sloukas, and a pair had 10 points, Kyle Hines and Vassilis Spanoulis. Hines also added 11 rebounds to his 10 points, and Spanoulis dished off five assists on the night.

Siena was led by Kangur and Janning, each dropping in 14. Moss contributed 11.

Maccabi Electra – BC Khimki MR, 80:79

Maccabi Electra got 30 points from Ricky Hickman, including 14 in the fourth quarter, en route to a hard fought 80:79 win over BC Khimki MR in what was billed as the Euroleague Game of the Week. The win brings Electra back into the thick of the playoff picture by drawing them even with Khimki and Caja Laboral at 6-5 in the standings. Electra will finish the Top 16 with matches against the defending champion Olympiacos in Greece in Week 12, than host winless Besiktas in Week 13, and then finish on the road against group leader Barcelona Regal in Week 14. Khimki’s schedule might be considered a bit easier as they will take on mostly middle of the road clubs. In Week 12 they will host Fenerbahce Ulker, then they’ll open the Basketball Center of the Moscow Region for Caja Laboral in Week 13, and their last Top 16 match will be on the road against Olympiacos in Week 14.

Khimki used a 1:8 scoring run early to jump out to the first big lead, only to have Electra counter and take the lead over late in the first frame. After the first 10 the hosts held a slim 19:18 advantage.

In the second quarter the two clubs exchanged baskets and the lead for the first seven minutes. Shawn James dropped in a pair of free throws for Maccabi to knot the score at 32, then Vitaly Fridzon connected on a three-ball and James Augustine hit a jumper and shortly after split a pair of singles to build a six-point lead for the guests, 32:38. In the last seconds of the half Hickman dropped in a pair of free throws, as did Zoran Planinic for Khimki, then Hickman connected on a jumper to close out the scoring with the guests up four, 36:40.

Electra opened the second half with the first five points to retake the lead, but foul trouble for the ‘bigs’ was part of the story in the third quarter as Maccabi’s James picked up his fourth personal just minutes into the second half and then Khimki’s Kresimir Loncar committed his fourth, putting both on the bench for much of the third. After Loncar exited, Devin Smith sank a lay-up and then a jumper, which was followed by a Darko Planinic deuce to put the hosts up 51:44. Shortly after, Nik Caner-Medley split a pair of singles and Moran Roth dropped in a pair of his own to extend the lead to 10, 54:44. Augustine grabbed a missed Planinic shot and dropped it in for Khimki’s first points in three minutes and setting off a series of three pointers over the next minute by both clubs. Hickman started the shooting exhibition for Electra, followed by a two-point jumper by Khimki’s Paul Davis, then a triple by Logan for the hosts, a three for Kelvin Rivers for the guests and Fridzon wrapping up the party with Khimki’s second in a row to cut the lead down to six, 60:54. Fridzon hit a pair of three throws to end scoring in the third with Electra up 60:56.

Davis scored inside to complete a 10-point run that brought Khimki within two, 60:58. Mid-way through the final frame Hickman and Fridzon exchanged triples which put Khimki up two, 67:69. Hickman wasn’t done though as he knocked down another three to retake the lead. Augustine and Loncar backed up a jumper and a lay-up for the lead to swing back to the guests. Hickman was fouled on a three-pointer attempt, giving him three charity tosses. He missed the first two and dropped in the third to knot the score at 73. Logan and Hickman scored inside the arc and Hickman buried a set of free throws to put Maccabi up six, 79:73. Rivers drained a three-ball to cut the lead to three, 79:76, then Hickman again missed a single, but made the second to push the lead to four, 80:76, and make it a two possession contest. Davis sliced the cords with a long-ball to pull the Russian club to within a point, but Electra was able to run the clock out to pick up the win.

Hickman was game-high with 30 points and a PIR of 28 on the night. Smith dropped in 16 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.

Fridzon was high-man for Khimki with 16 points. Planinic (9 assists) and Davis (9 rebounds) added 13 points each. Rivers dropped in 11, and Augustine contributed 10 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists.

Caja Laboral Vitoria – Fenerbahce Ulker, 87:67
Fenerbahce’s Oguz Savas scored the first two points of the contest, and it was the last time Ulker would see the high end of the score as Caja Laboral dominated the game from that point on, earning their sixth Top 16 win as a result. The win brings Caja into a three-way tie for the No. 4 spot in Group F, along with Maccabi Electra and BC Khimki MR. Caja has one of the toughest remaining schedules of those in the playoff race, starting off with a road trip to face Group F leader FC Barcelona Regal in Week 12, then another road game to Moscow to lock horns with BC Khimki MR in Week 13 in a game that will probably play a big deciding factor in the final team to qualify for the quarterfinals. In the final week, Week 14, they will host Montepaschi Siena in a game that will have playoff implications for more than one club. the club from Victoria has their fate in their own hands, if they can win at least two of their remaining games and get some help, they very possibly will be extending their Euroleague season beyond the Top 16.

The hosts got off to a huge start after the initial basket by Ulker, by running off 11 unanswered and building an 11:2 advantage. Ulker closed the gap some, but by the end of the first the hosts were up 16:10. The second quarter is when the game was essentially over as Caja outscoring their guests 30:12, to head into the break with a 46:22 advantage. In the third the lead was extended to just under 30 points, 67:39. The final frame belonged to Fenerbahce as they were able to get eight back during the last 10, but it still left them with a 20-point deficit and a 2-9 record in the Top 16.

Tibor Pleiss was high-man for Caja Laboral with 14 points and 6 rebounds. The trio of Andres Nocioni, Maciej Lampe, and Fabien Causeur dropped in 12 each, and Thomas Heurtel added 11.

Romain Sato was game-high with 15 points, and Mike Batiste added 12.

Euroleague Group E

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Euroleague Group F

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