Spanish League, Regular Season, Game 15: December 27-28, 2008 - SPAIN

May 25, 2013

Spanish League, Regular Season, Game 15: December 27-28, 2008

Tau Ceramica seemingly scored at will as it downed MMT Estudiantes 100-81 Sunday to remain atop the Spanish League standings with an impressive 13-1 record. Will McDonald led five Tau scorers in double figures with 25 points as the team won its ninth straight league contest. Regal FC Barcelona stayed on Tau’s heels in the battle for first place after a tough 59-66 win at iurbentia Bilbao Basket. The duo of Gianluca Basile (21 points, 5 assists) and Fran Vazquez (16 points, 15 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) shined for Barca. Unicaja and DKV Joventut share third place with 10-4 records after Bruesa GBC edged Unicaja 82-81 in overtime on Bernard Hopkins’s buzzer-beating three. Ricky Rubio showed he is back in form with16 points, 6 assists and 4 steals to lead Joventut to an 86-84 win over ALTA GESTION Fuenlabrada. Real Madrid ran over Ricoh Manresa as Felipe Reyes and Quinton Hosley combined for 38 points for the hosts. Pamesa Valencia made a stop on the game's last possession to celebrate a 79-77 win over Kalise Gran Canaria. In other games, Cajasol Sevilla picked up an important win over Vivemenorca 74-69 behind 21 points from Tyrone Ellis and CB Murcia bested CAI Zaragoza 91-82 as Taquan Dean drilled 6 three-pointers en route to 32 points.

Tau Ceramica scored 50 points in each half to down MMT Estudiantes 100-81 and remain atop the Spanish League standings with an impressive 13-1 record. Estudiantes couldn't stop Tau's offence, as Will McDonald burned the guests with 25 points to lead five Tau scorers in double figures. Pablo Prigioni scored 18 points, Tiago Splitter added 16 to go with 9 rebounds, Igor Rakocevic had 15 points and Mirza Teletovic 13 for Tau. Tom Wideman led the guests with 18 points. Regal FC Barcelona stayed on Tau’s heels in the battle for first place after a tough 59-66 win at iurbentia Bilbao Basket. The inside/outside duo of Gianluca Basile and Fran Vazquez paced Barca as it improved to 11-3. The hosts dominated early and led 19-8 after 10 minutes and 33-26 at halftime, but Barcelona turned the game on its head with an 11-25 third quarter to take control. Basile paced the winners with 6 three-pointers en route to 21 points and 5 assists and Vazquez amassed 16 points, 15 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Andre Barrett added 10 points for Barca. Marko Banic led Bilbao with 15 points and 9 rebounds and Drago Pasalic scored 14.

DKV Joventut topped Fuenlabrada 86-84 as Ricky Rubio shined with 16 points, 6 assists and 4 steals. Kristaps Valters helped the visitors build a 47-59 lead late in the third quarter, but Rubio soon took over along with Pau Ribas, who scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. Rubio put Joventut up 2 with 17 seconds to go and then teamed with Ribas to stop Fuenlabrada’s last attack and take the win. Demond Mallet and Jerome Moiso also scored 15 points apiece for the hosts. Matias Sandes paced Fuenlabrada with 14. Real Madrid thrashed Ricoh Manresa 83-56 at home in a one-sided affair. The hosts led by 15 after 10 minutes and also outscored Manresa by double digits in the third period to secure the win. Madrid outrebounded Manresa 41-24, which made up for a 1-for-18 shooting effort from downtown. Felipe Reyes led Madrid with 19 points and 13 rebounds, Quinton Hosley also scored 19 and Louis Bullock and Jeremiah Massey added 11 each. Josh Asselin paced Manresa with 10 points in defeat.

Bruesa GBC edged Unicaja 82-81 in overtime for its sixth victory of the season. It was a 45-minute thriller that came down to the buzzer as Bernard Hopkins’s buzzer-beating triple gave the hosts the win. David Doblas led Bruesa with 17 points, Hopkins scored 15 and Andy Panko posted 14 points and 10 rebounds for the winners. Thomas Kelati led Unicaja with 24 points, Jiri Welsch scored 11 and Boniface Ndong added 10 to go with 10 boards. Matt Nielsen was the hero for Pamesa Valencia with the game-winning basket in a 79-77 win over Kalise Gran Canaria. The hosts used a big second period to take a 48-43 lead at halftime and it reached double figures early in the third period. Jim Moran helped Granca get back in the fourth quarter and Carl English eventually tied the game at 77-77 with a triple with 40 seconds to go. But Nielsen answered back and Daniel Kickert missed a potentially game-winning three in the end. Kosta Perovic led Paresa with 14 points and 7 rebounds, Nilsen scored 13 and Florent Pietrus and Vule Avdalovic added 10 each. Moran paced Gran Canaria with 14 points, English and Marcus Norris netted 13 apiece, Sitapha Sivane had 12 and Josh Fisher 10 in defeat.

LAST GAME GAME 15 December 27-28, 2008
Day	Match	Result
Dec. 28	Bruesa GBC vs. Unicaja	82-81
Dec. 28	Real Madrid vs. Ricoh	83-56
Dec. 28	Cajasol vs. ViveMenorca	74-69
Dec. 28	TAU Cerámica vs.Estudiantes	100-81
Dec. 28	iurbentia Bilbao vs.Regal FCB	59-66
Dec. 28	DKV Joventut vs. Fuenla.	86-84
Dec. 28	CB Murcia vs. CAI Zaragoza	91-82
Dec. 27	Pamesa Valencia vs.Kalise GC	79-77
	CB Granada (free)

NEXT GAME GAME 16 January 3-4, 2009
Day	Match
Jan. 3	Regal FCB vs. TAU Cerámica
Jan. 3	Estudiantes vs. Cajasol
Jan. 4	Kalise G. Canaria vs. Murcia
Jan. 4	Fuenlabrada vs. iurbentia
Jan. 4	CAI Zar. vs. DKV Joventut
Jan. 4	ViveMenorca vs. Real Madrid
Jan. 4	Unicaja vs. C.B. Granada
Jan. 4	Ricoh Manresa vs. Bruesa GBC
	Pamesa Valencia (free)

	STANDINGS	TG	W	L	P+	P-
1	TAU Cerámica	14	13	1	1238	1045
2	Regal F.C. Barcelona	14	11	3	1081	963
3	Unicaja	14	10	4	1141	1013
4	DKV Joventut	14	10	4	1162	1113
5	Real Madrid	14	9	5	1162	1115
6	Kalise Gran Canaria	14	9	5	1125	1081
7	Pamesa Valencia	15	8	7	1140	1132
8	CB Granada	14	7	7	1061	1076
9	Ricoh Manresa	15	7	8	1064	1111
10	ALTA GESTIÓN Fuenlabrada	14	6	8	1156	1124
11	iurbentia Bilbao Basket	14	6	8	1043	1085
12	Bruesa GBC	14	6	8	1087	1133
13	ViveMenorca	14	5	9	1032	1044
14	CAI Zaragoza	14	4	10	1065	1162
15	CB Murcia	14	4	10	1026	1169
16	MMT Estudiantes	14	3	11	1054	1144
17	Cajasol	14	2	12	1036	1163