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Spanish League, Game 25: March 15-16, 2008
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Road teams took the Spanish League by storm in its 25th week of the regular season, winning nine of 11 games. Those road warriors included league leader Real Madrid, which bounced back from a tough Euroleague home loss by downing last-place Leon by 77-89 as Felipe Reyes scored 17 points. DKV Joventut held onto second place with a 72-92 road win at 11th-placed Murcia in which Rudy Fernandez scored 24 points and Jan-Hendrick Jagla 20. Tau Ceramica stayed on fire by winning its regional derby with dangerous Bilbao 60-78 to retain a share of third place. Fourth-place AXA F.C. Barcelona denied the team behind it in the standings, Pamesa Valencia, a chance to get closer, winning 68-75 away in a true team effort. Days before its pivotal Top 16 finale at home in Malaga, Unicaja suffered an ambush on the same court, losing 100-105 in overtime to 15th-place Fuenlabrada. Days before its ULEB Cup fate is decided, Akasvayu added its name to the list of Spanish League road winners by downing next-to-last place Estudiatnes 74-82 behind 23 points from Marc Gasol. Yet another road warrior with a major ULEB Cup date was Kalise Gran Canaria, a 66-80 victor at Manresa as Roberto Guerra popped in 16 points. In other results, Cajasol moved closer to the middle of the table when it defeated visiting Valladolid 81-76 as Michal Ignerski drilled 22 points and Granada topped Menorca 94-76 to stay in a tie for 10th place.
Madrid took care of business early at Leon, pouring in 30 points in the first quarter to lead 43-58 by halftime. Leon made a stand by scoring the first 8 points after halftime to come within 51-58, but a three-point play by Raul Lopez restored Madrid's double-digit lead. Leon rallied again as the third quarter ended and the fourth began, using an 18-4 run to tie at 73-73, and despite Lopez giving Madrid 4 points in a row, soon again at 77-77. Five minutes remained, and amazingly enough, Leon did not score again as Madrid's defense took no prisoners and Alex Mumbru's triple sparked a 0-12 closing run. After Reyes, Madrid got 14 points from Iturbe and 10 each from Lopez, Mumbru and Louis Bullock. Bruno Sundov had 18 for Leon. Joventut pulled away by the quarter to get its comfortable road win at Murcia. The first 6 points of the second quarter broke a 24-24 tie and subsequent consecutive triples by Fernandez and Lubos Barton kept Murcia behind 41-48 at the break. Jagla and Demond Mallet helped Joventut stay slightly ahead until another Barton triple meant a 62-72 lead after 30 minutes. The first 5 points of the final quarter let Joventut expand on its advantage the rest of the way. Mallet followed Fernandez and Jagla with 11 points and Barton added 10 while Eduardo Hernadez-Sonseca and Jerome Moiso combined for 20 rebounds.
Playing on the road, Tau established its defense early to lead 9-15 after one quarter and 25-34 at the half. Bilbao cut a basket off the difference by the end of 30 minutes, but Tau saved its best for last, widening its lead by the minute until the end. Splitter was helped in the scoring column by Pete Mickeal, who returned from injury to score 11 points, the same as Pablo Prigioni, while Mirsa Teletovic added 10. Marcelinho Huertas led Bilbao with 16 points. Barcelona let Pamesa win only one quarter, the fourth, on its own floor while distributing its offense evenly and locking down its defense together. Barca took its first lead at 4-6 and refused to let go of it again, reaching its first double-digit advantage on a Pepe Sanchez triple to start the second half at 27-38. Pamesa drew within 48-54 on Victor Claver's triple to open the fourth quarter, but Gianluca Basile matched it seconds later. Albert Oliver tied it up 61-61 with 5 pionts in a row with 4 minutes left, but Basile and Ersan Ilyasova scored next, giving Barcelona a step ahead to the finish line. Jaka Lakovic led the winners with 12 points, while Basile and Roger Grimau had 11 each and Fran Vazquez 10. Sanchez had 9 and 9 assists. Stanko Barac led Pamesa with 14 points, while Ruben Douglas had 13, Claver 12 and Shammond Williams 11.
Unicaja was the victim of a road win as it played with fire against Fuenlabrada and got burned after falling behind 44-49 on its home floor at halftime. A Unicaja resurgence in the third quarter to lead by a basket entering the fourth did not help as the hosts still needed Marcus Haislip's free throws to force overtime. There, the visitors went ahead again, and only a basket by Davor Kus with 6 seconds left let Unicaja force a second OT. There, however, the hosts' luck ran out. Saul Blanco scored 10 points in the second OT, including 7 of 8 free throws down the stretch, to win it for Fuenlabrada. Blanco had 25 points and Tom Wideman 24 plus 15 rebounds for the winners. Haislip led six double-figure scorers for Unicaja with 15 points. Akasvayu jumped all over Estudiantes on the way to its road win in Madrid, taking off by 16-29 after one quarter and still holding a 57-66 advantage heading into the last one. When Estudiantes rallied to within 70-74, Arriel McDonald blasted a triple that settled the matter for Akasvayu. McDonald followed Gasol with 19 points for the winners. Fernando San Emeterio added 15 and Erik Daniels 14 plus 10 rebounds.
Gran Canaria stormed to a 6-21 start in Manresa behind 11 points between Sitapha Savane and David Kornel and handled decent leads the rest of the night. A triple by Carl English to start the second half meant a 22-point lead, 27-49, for Gran Canaria, which never looked back on its way to a victory that keeps it in ninth place in the standings. Kornel followed Guerra in the scoring column with 13 points, while Jim Moran added 12. Those three helped fill Gran Canaria's 52 points of bench scoring as compared to 34 for Manresa.
LAST GAME GAME 25
March 15-16, 2008 | | Day | Match | Result | | Mar. 16 | Estudiantes vs. Akasvayu | 74-82 | | Mar. 16 | Unicaja vs. Fuenlabrada | 100-105 | | Mar. 16 | León vs. Real Madrid | 77-89 | | Mar. 16 | Pamesa vs.AXA FCB | 68-75 | | Mar. 15 | Cajasol vs. Valladolid | 81-76 | | Mar. 16 | Manresa vs. Kalise Canaria | 66-80 | | Mar. 16 | Granada vs. ViveMenorca | 94-76 | | Mar. 16 | CB Murcia vs. DKV Joventut | 72-92 | | Mar. 15 | Bilbao vs. TAU Cerámica | 60-78 |
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NEXT GAME GAME 26
March 22-23, 2008 | | Day | Match | | Mar. 22 | Akasvayu vs.DKV Joventut | | Mar. 23 | AXA FCB vs. Cajasol | | Mar. 23 | ViveMenorca vs. Bilbao | | Mar. 23 | Real Madrid vs. CB Murcia | | Mar. 23 | Valladolid vs. Unicaja | | Mar. 23 | Estudiantes vs. Manresa | | Mar. 23 | TAU Cerámica vs. León | | Mar. 23 | Fuenlabrada vs. Kalise GC | | Mar. 23 | Granada vs. Pamesa Val. |
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| STANDINGS | TG | W | L | P+ | P- | | 1 | Real Madrid | 25 | 21 | 4 | 2088 | 1888 | | 2 | DKV Joventut | 25 | 19 | 6 | 2187 | 1918 | | 3 | TAU Cerámica | 25 | 18 | 7 | 2119 | 1890 | | 4 | AXA F.C. Barcelona | 25 | 18 | 7 | 1913 | 1839 | | 5 | Pamesa Valencia | 25 | 15 | 10 | 1940 | 1830 | | 6 | iurbentia Bilbao Basket | 25 | 15 | 10 | 1862 | 1811 | | 7 | Unicaja | 25 | 14 | 11 | 1995 | 1921 | | 8 | Akasvayu Girona | 25 | 14 | 11 | 1965 | 1976 | | 9 | Kalise Gran Canaria | 25 | 12 | 13 | 1930 | 1898 | | 10 | C.B. Granada | 25 | 10 | 15 | 1923 | 1963 | | 11 | Polaris World CB Murcia | 25 | 10 | 15 | 1828 | 1889 | | 12 | Grupo Capitol Valladolid | 25 | 10 | 15 | 1974 | 2088 | | 13 | Cajasol | 25 | 9 | 16 | 1944 | 2010 | | 14 | Ricoh Manresa | 25 | 9 | 16 | 1964 | 2080 | | 15 | Alta Gestión Fuenlabrada | 25 | 9 | 16 | 1847 | 1972 | | 16 | ViveMenorca | 25 | 9 | 16 | 1873 | 2006 | | 17 | MMT Estudiantes | 25 | 7 | 18 | 1803 | 1973 | | 18 | Grupo Begar León | 25 | 6 | 19 | 1875 | 2078 |
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Euroleague.net
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Euroleague / ULEB Cup teams
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