Jiri Welsch - Unicaja

The Euroleague said goodbye to 2009 with half of its regular season riddle solved. After eight games, exactly eight teams fill half of the sports in the Top 16, leaving the other half to be decided with what promises to be more compelling drama when the action resumes on January 6, 2010. Group A was the only one that escaped Week 8 unaltered. Already-qualified Regal FC Barcelona and Montepaschi won handily at home, while rallying to stay alive was Cibona, by 80-77 over Fenerbahce Ulker behind 27 points from Marko Tomas. Group B, meanwhile, welcomed a pair of road winners as qualifiers after Unicaja downed Efes Pilsen 77-79 in a true team effort while Olympiacos won an OT thriller 83-89 at Lietuvos Rytas as four Reds - Linas Kleiza, Ioannis Bourousis, Milos Teodosic and Josh Childress - scored 18 or 19 points. The group also boasted a first-time winner, Orleans, which outlasted Partizan 75-72 as Cedrick Banks scored 19. Group C had one more name to push into the Top 16, none other than Caja Laboral, after beating Olimpija 62-53 behind 15 points from all-Euroleague perennial Tiago Splitter. That forged a first-place tie with already-qualified CSKA, a 77-72 home winner over Maccabi, which missed a chance to advance, as Sasha Kaun scored 21. Also, Maroussi defeated host Roma 74-87 behind 22 points from Stevan Nadjfeji to extend their Top 16 race into 2010. And, in Group D, taking the high road into the Top 16 and first place was Real Madrid, a 67-76 winner at Panathinaikos as Lou Bullock scored 15 points. Waiting still to qualify, but in third place and two victories ahead of the non-qualifiers, is Khimki Moscow Region, which beat Oldenburg 49-62 with the second-best defense by a road team in the Euroleague all decade. Keith Langford scored 19 for Khimki. And, Milano stopped visiting Asseco Prokom 82-69 behind Morris Finley's 20 points. The regular season resumes on January 6, 2010. See Photos! ...MORE