The seventh week of the 2011-12 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season produced four new additions to the Top 16, five games decided by 4 points or less, two teams piling onto to their perfect starts to the season and thrilling buzzer-beater. Through three games, Group A is closer than any group the Euroleague has ever witnessed.
Gescrap BB trounced SLUC Nancy 97-75 Wednesday on the strength of a big fourth quarter. Alex Mumbru led six Bilbao scorers in double figures with 15 points. In Thursday’s Game of the Week,
Bennet Cantu held off Caja Laboral 71-68. The visitors rallied from a 21-point fourth-quarter deficit to make a game of it, but Cantu pulled out the win thanks in part to 18 points on 6-of-9 three-point shooting off the bench from Gianluca Basile – his best performance in two-and-a-half seasons. And
Fenerbahce Ulker downed Olympiacos 86-70 led by 17 points and 5 asissts from Cutis Jerrells. Those results left one win separating all six Group A teams. FB Ulker, Laboral and Cantu are tied for first at 4-3. All three Group B games for the week took place on Wednesday.
CSKA Moscow beat Brose Baskets 78-81 on Milos Teodosic’s triple on the buzzer to remain undefeated. Freshly crowned bwin MVP for November Nenad Krstic scored 20 points and Viktor Khryapa added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists for the winners. Defending champion
Panathinaikos defeated KK Zagreb 94-76 to join CSKA in the Top 16. Mike Batiste threw down 18 points and 9 rebounds as the Greens improved to 5-2. In the early game
Zalgiris edged Unicaja 67-65 to rejoin the Top 16 hunt. Sonny Weems accounted for 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lithuanian champs. Those results leave four teams within 1 victory for the last two spots leading into the Top 16 from Group B. In Group C’s lone Wednesday game,
Anadolu Efes bested Belgacom Spirou 62-66 as All-Euroleague forward Dusko Savanovic posted 16 points and 10 rebounds. The win lifted Efes to 4-3 and dropped Spirou to 1-6. Then
Real Madrid topped EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 65-72 Thursday to join the Top 16. Sergio Rodriguez turned in his best game of the season with 19 points for Los Blancos.
Partizan mt:s overcame Maccabi Electra 74-71 to end the Israeli champs’ five-game winning streak and deny them in their first chance to secure a Top 16 spot. Milan Macvan, who plays for Partizan on loan from Maccabi, burned his former teammates with 22 points and 8 rebounds. Madrid and Maccabi are tied for first place in the group at 5-2 with Efes and Partizan each one win back.
FC Barcelona Regal danced over Asseco Prokom 45-76 in Poland on Thursday night to improve to 7-0. Victor Sada paced Barca with a career-high 17 points.
Montepaschi Siena held on to beat Union Olimpija 57-63 and slide into the Top 16 as well. Bo McCalebb scored 16 to lead the Italian champs. That result coupled with
Unics downing Galatasaray Medical Park 57-63 sent the Euroleague newcomer from Kazan into the Top 16 too. Terrell Lyday sparked Unics with 17 points. With three weeks of regular season action remaining, the drama continues to build and next week could see many more teams book Top 16 berths.