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Preston Shumpert celebrates
Efes Pilsen
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The Top 16 teams are set. A thrilling Thursday of Week 10 ushered in the last three teams and sealed the last two top seeds ahead of the upcoming Top 16 Draw. A total of five teams advanced to the Top 16 in the last week of play, with the most excitement coming in Group A, were Zalgiris Kaunas and Cibona Zagreb advanced after four teams tied with 3-7 records. In the last game of the regular season,
Regal FC Barcelona downed Montepaschi Siena 85-70 to become the first team since CSKA Moscow in the 2004-05 season to go through the regular season undefeated. Ricky Rubio led six Barcelona scorers in double figures with 14 points and a career-high 10 assists. Earlier,
Cibona eliminated Asvel Basket 73-71 as Marko Tomas shined with 24 points. And Marty Pocius delivered 18 in his first Euroleague start as
Zalgiris dismissed Fenerbahce Ulker 68-76 on the road. Group C saw a first-time qualifier as
Maroussi BC beat Maccabi 83-75 to reach the Top 16. Kostas Kaimakoglou scored 18 and Jared Homan posted a double-double for the winners. Another game decided in the closing seconds was in Moscow, where Trajan Langdon hit the game-winning three-pointer with 7.3 seconds left and
CSKA trumped Caja Laboral 84-83 to win Group C. In a battle of two teams whose Euroleague season’s ended at the final buzzer,
Lottomatica Roma defeated Union Olimpija 69-48 behind Ibby Jaaber’s 23 points. The week began with a trio of Group B games, at the end of which Olympiacos became the group winner and Efes Pilsen reached the next stage.
Olympiacos defeated Partizan 81-60 to improve to 8-2 led by Linas Kleiza’s 16 points and Milos Teodosic’s 9 assists.
Efes outlasted Entente Orleanaise 60-75 behind Preston Shumpert’s season-high 21 points. Efes’s win was only enough because
Unicaja edged Lietuvos Rytas 73-71 on the strength of Georgios Printezis’s 17 points. If L. Rytas has won, it would have advanced in Efes’s place. In Group D, Real Madrid celebrated first place and with it a top seed for the Top 16 Draw, while Asseco Prokom reached the Top 16 for the fourth time in club history.
Real Madrid topped Armani Jeans 66-75 to secure its first ever win in Milano. Armani Jeans would have advanced had it won. The result opened the door for
Prokom, which bested BC Khimki 75-70 thanks to David Logan’s season-high 24 points. Despite injuries to three key players, defending champion
Panathinaikos beat EWE Baskets Oldenburg 64-67 as Mike Batiste shined with 21 points and 9 boards. Now it’s full steam ahead to the Top 16, which begins on Wednesday, January 27.
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