Spain ACB: Real Madrid remains undefeated

Round seven of the Spain ACB saw some key games played with Real Madrid defeating Bilbao to remain undefeated and Caja Laboral traveling to Valencia Basket Club in a showdown of two top ranked teams. The middle of the pack got very crowded with five teams tied with 5-2 records and six knotted up with 4-3 marks.

Real Madrid – Gescrap Bizkaia Bilbao Basket, 98:84
Host Madrid used some hot shooting from behind the arc to pick up their seventh win in as many games to remain the only undefeated club in the ACB. Connecting on 18 of 34 (53%) from three-land compared to Bilbao’s 4 of 13 (31%) was the difference, even with the visitors shooting 24 of 29 (89%) from the free throw line, while Madrid was only 8 of 9 (89%). Bilbao drops to 5-2 to remain tied with four other squads with the same record.
Top Scorers:
Madrid: Rudy Fernandez, 20; Martynas Pocius 18; Mikola Mirotic 17; Sergio Llull 16.
Bilbao: Lamont Hamilton 16; Alex Mumbru 16; Axel Hervelle 15.

Valencia Basket Club – Caja Laboral, 75:79
The host squad Valencia built a 47:34 advantage through the first half, but lost it all in the third when Caja outscored them 13:27 to take a one-point margin into the final quarter. Caja extended their margin to three with a 15:18 final frame to pull even with Valencia in the standings at 5-2. The difference in this contest was the charity stripe, where Caja dropped in 24 of 31 (77%) and Valencia connected on 16 of 24 (67%).
Top Scorers:
Valencia: Pau Ribas 16; Justin Doellman 13; Serhiy Lishchuk 12; Chris Quinn 11.
Caja: Fabien Causeur 22; Andres Nocioni 16; Fernando San Emeterio Lara 15.

Lagun Aro GBC – Unicaja, 54:67
Unicaja remained at the top of the leader board with a road win over Lagun Aro, who drops to 1-6 with the loss. The win puts Unicaja in a five-way tie for second at 5-2, two-games down from Real Madrid at 7-0. The visitors got off to a 12:26 advantage after the first, but the hosts roared back with a 21:8 margin in the second to go into the half only down by one, 33:34. Unicaja got their game back on track in the second half and cruised to a 13-point win.
Top Scorers:
Lagun Aro GBC: Ibekwe Ekene 11; Raulzinho Neto 8.
Unicaja: Krunoslav Simon 15; Luka Zoric 13; Earl Callowa.

Herbalife Gran Canaria – Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada, 73:52
Herbalife Gran Canaria stayed in the traffic jam at the second position in the standings with a decisive win over the Mad-Croc squad, who drop to 1-6 on the season. The win improves Gran Canaria to 5-2. Brad Newley and Spencer Nelson led the hosts with 18 and 16 points respectively.
Top Scorers:
Herbalife Gran Canaria: Brad Newley 18; Spencer Nelson 16.
Mad-Croc Fuenlabrada: Sergii Gladyr 12; Sergio Sanchez 10.

Regal FC Barcelona – Manresa Assignia, 89:47
Barcelona improved to 4-3 with a 42-point win over Manresa Assignia, who remained winless on the season.
Top Scorers:
Regal FC Barcelona: Ante Tomic 16; Marcelo Huertas 13; Erazem Lorbek 12; Nathan Jawai 12.
Manresa Assignia: Salva Arco 15; Adam Hanga 12.

Asefa Estudiantes – CAI Zaragoza, 68:83
Zaragoza moved themselves into a tie for the seventh spot in the ACB at 4-3 with a 15-point win over Asefa, who also dropped to 4-3 with the loss. CAI used the three-ball to win this contest, knocking down 15 of 32 (47%), while Asefa was only able to hit 4 of 19 (19%).
Top Scorers:
Asefa Estudiantes: German Gabriel 18; Carl Ingles 13; Jayson Granger 13; Lamont Barnes 10.
CAI Zaragoza: Jon Stefansson 16; Michael Roll 13; Sam Van Rossom 11; Damjan Rudez 11; Pablo Aguilar 10.

FIATC Joventut – Blancos de Rueda Valladolid, 84:89
Valladolid needed an extra frame to pick up their fourth win of the season with an 84:89 decision on the the road against FIATC Joventut. The win evens the two clubs with five others at 4-3. FIATC held an 11-point lead with just four minutes to play (73:62), but three, three-pointers and a lay-up from the visitors knotted the score at 73 with just two minutes left. Neither squad could put the game away in regulation, sending it to an extra five, where the visitors earned the win outscoring FIATC 8:13. Uros Tripkovic led all scorers for Valladolid with 27 on the day.
Top Scorers:
FIATC Joventut: Moses Ehambe 18; Tony Gaffney 16; Manny Quezada 12; Albert Oliver 10; Corey Fisher 10; Albert Ventura 10.
Blancos de Rueda Valladolid: Uros Tripkovic 27; Ian O’Leary 11; Vytenis Cizauskas 11.

Blusens Monbus – CB Murcia UCAM, 69:73
UCAM built a 25:44 advantage through half time, but lost most of their margin in the third quarter allowing their hosts to outscore them 25:10 in the frame. They fought off a hard battle by Monbus, who were able to tie things up at 66 with two minutes left on the clock. UCAM hit a couple of key shots late in the game to secure the win and improve their record to 4-3, moving into a six-way tie for seventh place. Blusen Monbus dropped to 3-4.
Top Scorers:
Blusens Monbus: Alberto Corbacho 18; Oriol Junyent 14; Levon Kendall 13; Salah Mejri 11.
CB Murcia UCAM: Joe Ragland 13; J.A. Antelo 11; Joep Franch 11; B. Rodriguez 10.

Cajasol – CB Canarias, 68:79
In a fight to crawl out of the bottom of the standings, CB Canarias was able to pick up a road win against Cajasol, 68:79. This was Canarias’ first victory and pulled them into a tie with Cajasol with 1-6 records on the year. Cajasol opened the contest with a five-point advantage at the half, but Canarias tied then score after three, 59:59. The game was decided in the final stanza with the visitors out-gunning Cajasol 9:20. The two squads remained tied at 68-all, but Canarias tallied the last 11 points in the contest for the win.
Top Scorers:
Cajasol: John Holland 19; T. Satoransky 16; L. Bogdanovic 10.
CB Canarias: Nicholas Richotti 15; Ricardo Uriz 14; Levi Rost 13; Saul White 10; F. Lampropoulos 10.