Euroleague: Montepaschi Siena marches on

Week seven of Euroleague 2012-13 has been knocked off, and the Top 16 contenders are stacking up quickly. After Friday’s contests, both Zalgiris Kaunas and Besiktas JK Istanbu locked up invitations to the next round, while the race for the seats got a bit crowded in three groups. Besiktas JK Istanbul became the third squad in Group D to earn their place at the party and Zalgiris is the first in Group C. They join Unicaja Malaga, FC Barcelona Regal and CSKA Moscow as those that have clinched a spot in the next round. Aiming for a spot, after losing their first three games of the season, is Montepaschi Siena, who snagged a crucial win at home against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Group A
Mapooro Cantu – Panathinaikos Athens, 69:71
Panathinaikos took their show on the road and squared off with Cantu in a key Group A match. It was a must-win contest for Cantu, but they came up one-shot short as the Green’s Michael Bramos had the hot shooting hand, hitting seven three-balls, including the game winner with 50 seconds left. The win moves Athens into a three-way tie for second with Fenerbahce and BC Khimki at 4-3, while Cantu drops to 2-5 and tied with Union Olimpija at the bottom of the group. The Greens got the upper hand in the first, coming out the of the first 10 with a four-point advantage, 15:19. Cantu turned the tables on their guests in the second, equaling the first quarter score to draw even at 34 heading into the dressing rooms at the break. Bramos opened the scoring in the second half with a triple early, but Cantu ran off eight unanswered to take a five-point lead. Kostas Tsartsaris converted on a three-point play for the Greeens and then Roko Ukic dropped in a three-pointer after stole an errant past from Cantu’s Manuchar Markoishvili to push the visitors back up by one, 42:43. The club’s would exchange the lead multiple more times in the frame, but Bramos got Athens a bit of breathing room when he hit the cords with another triple as the buzzer sounded, putting Panathinaikos up by four heading into the final quarter, 50:54. Cantu came out swinging as the last 10 started, jumping back into the lead with a 9:0 run and holding their guests scoreless for half the quarter. Marcus Banks and Bramos kept Panathinakos close, while Alexander Tyus-Cecchini did everything he could to keep the hosts out in front by taking control of the middle, throwing down monster dunks and swatting away shots at the other end of the court. Cantu got back up by six, 66:60, only to have Bramos an Dimitris Diamantidis counter with back-to-back triples to knot things at 66. Stephane Lasme pushed the Greens up by to with a dunk, Tyus-Cecchini got fouled and sank his two singles to tie things back at 68, then Bramos hit his seventh three-ball of the night to give Athens the three-point lead. Jonathan Tabu split a pair of free throws to cut the gap to two and the Tabu got a defensive rebound, drove to the arc and launch the potential game winner right before the final buzzer only to have it fall off, preserving the Panathinaikos victory.
Top Scorers:
Mapooro Cantu: Alexander Tyus-Cecchini 18; Jonathn Tabu 17 (Assists 8, PIR 22); Maarten Leunen 11; Pietro Aradori 10.
Panathinaikos Athens: Michael Bramos 21 (Rebounds 9, PIR 27); Dimitris Diamantidis 15 (Assists 7)

Real Madrid – BC Khimki Moscow Region, 104:81
Real Madrid and BC Khimki MR entered the match in Madrid tied a the top of Group A with identical 4-2 records, but after the beating Khimki received from their hosts in a 23-point loss, the Russian club returned home in a log jam at the second spot, as three teams are now 4-3 on the season and all fighting for a Top 16 spot. Khimki opened the contest with a two-point lead, 21:23, but Real countered in the second and took a one-point lead into the intermission. The third quarter is when things go out of hand for Khimki as their hosts opened up 15-point margin, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to head into the last quarter 79:64. The last frame was much the same as Madrid contingent added another eight to their margin to close out the night with a 104:81 victory. Real’s Rudy Fernandez dropped in 23 on the night with a performance index rating of 28, which should earn him co-MVP honors on the week with Barcelona’s Ante Tomic.
Top Scorers:
Real Madrid: Rudy Fernandez 23 (PIR 28); Nikola Mirotic 17 (PIR 25); Jaycee Carroll 14; Sergio Llull 14; Felipe Reyes 10.
BC Khimki Moscow Region: Sergey Monya 19; Vitaly Fridzon 17; Zoran Planinic 15.

Group B
Montepaschi Siena – Maccabi Tel Aviv, 89:87
Montepaschi continues to roll as they picked up their fourth win in a row, after three consecutive losses to open the season, with a victory at home over Maccabi Tel Aviv, 89:87. The win puts Siena at 4-3 on the season and in third place, while Tel Aviv drops to 5-2 and second place in Group B. This game featured a number of lead changes as it was a battle of exchanging scoring runs Maccabi got out to a two-point margin after the first quarter, 21:23 and Montepaschi came back in the second outscoring their guests by five to take a three-point advantaged into the halftime break, 44:41. Shawn James put the Tel Aviv club on his shoulders, dropping in eight of his game-high 22 early in the third, including three consecutive baskets to push the visitors to a four-point lead. Lior Eliyahu also tallied a pair of deuces to extend the margin more and at the end of the quarter Maccabi was sporting a 59:65 advantage. Daniel Hackett and Tomas Ress took over the scoring duties for Montepaschi in the fourth connecting on key three-balls to cover the deficit and push the hosts back on top on the board. Ress his a trey from the corner to undo the knot at 82, than found an opening down the lay and pushed the hometown squad to a five-point gap with 18 clicks to play. Maccabi got two from Eliyahu on a lay-up to cut the margin to three, but Ress sank a pair of singles to push back to five. Devin Smith dropped in a three-ball as time expired for Maccabi, but the buzzer sealed the win for the Siena squad and tightened the race to the Top 16. Shawn James finished the contest with a PIR of 39, 11 points higher than Rudy Fernandez and Ante Tomas, who will be crowned co-MVPs shortly, but due to his club losing the contest, he’s ineligible for the award.
Top Scorers:
Montepaschi Siena: Bobby Brown 16 (Assists 6); Daniel Hackett 13 (Assists 5); Kristjan Kangur 12; Tomas Ress 12; Mario Kasun 10.
Maccabi Tel Aviv: Shawn James 22 (Rebounds 12, PIR 39); Kior Eliyahu 19 (PIR 21); Ricky Hickman 13; Devin Smith 10; Yogev Ohayon 10.

Group C
Zalgiris Kaunas – Caja Laboral, 82:45
On their way to pick up their tickets to the Top 16, the squad from Zalgiris Kaunas needed to swing by a packed Zalgirio Arena to smack around their invited guests from Caja Laboral and pick up a 37-point victory. At the end of 40 minutes thrashing, the 15,310 faithful that packed in to be part of the celebration for securing a place in the next round were also able to witness their boys put on quite a defensive clinic while they held Caja to their lowest Euroleague score ever. The win improves Zalgiris to 6-1 and keeps them in sole possession of the top spot in Group C, while the loss keeps Caja in the basement of the group with a 1-6 record.
Top Scorers:
Zalgiris Kaunas: Marko Popovic 19; Darjus Lavrinovic 13; Mindaugas 13; Ibrahim Jaaber 12.
Caja Laboral: Andres Nocioni 10; Fabien Causeur 10.

Group D
Besiktas JK Istanbul – Brose Baskets, 83:72
Besiktas earned an invitation to the Euroleague Top 16 Friday with an 11-point win over Brose Baskets. The clubs entered the competition in third and fourth places behind undefeated FC Barcelona Regal and 6-1 CSKA Moscow. The win keeps their positions the same, but Besiktas moves to 4-3, while Brose drops to 2-5, only one game up on both Partizan and Lietuvos for the fourth spot. With only three games left in the Euroleague season, there are no possible scenarios available that puts Besiktas in the bottom two, but it’s possible the last spot won’t be determined until the last seconds have ticked off the regular season. Brose took command of this contest early, building a six-point lead at halftime after an 18:18 tied first quarter. Besiktas roared back in the third with a 26:12 advantage to take an eight-point advantage into the final 10. They capped off the win by adding another three to the margin, finalizing the game at 83:72 and a spot in the Top 16.
Top Scorers:
Besiktas JK Istanbul: Patrick Christophoer 20; Curtis Jerrells 17; Damir Markota 13; Gasper Vidmar 10.
Brose Baskets: Anton Gavel 21; Casey Jacobson 14.