|
|
In two days full of decades-old rivalries, a confrontation between first-time opponents provided a new scoring record and left just one team in the entire competition undefeated. That team would be none other than defending champion Panathinaikos, whose unbelievable 83-123 road win at Chorale Roanne matched the most points ever scored in a Euroleague game and established the record for scoring by a road team. Andrija Zizic had 26 points for the champs, who benefited a night later from AXA F.C. Barcelona ending Real Madrid's unbeaten string with a 73-62 home win that left Panathinaikos as the only perfect team in the competition. That's because the third undefeated team entering this week, Lietuvos Rytas, suffered a 70-77 home loss to Efes Pilsen that changed the look of Group B. Unicaja was able to take advantage by winning 74-83 at Le Mans to join L. Rytas as group co-leader. They would have been tri-leaders, too, had it not been for Armani Jeans Milano taking its first victory in its first meeting since 1992 with old rival Aris TT Bank by 70-77 on the road in Thessaloniki. Group A has a pair of first-place teams, too, as both CSKA Moscow and Tau Ceramica kept up their winning ways in advance of their head-to-head duel next week.
A short-handed Olympiacos banded together to pound Prokom Trefl 109-65. Arvydas Macijauskas returned from a week off to lead the Reds with near-perfect shooting for 27 points and 5 assists, while Qyntel Woods buried 5 of his team's 12 triples for 22 points. The 45-point win was Olympiacos's biggest since trouncing Ovarense Aerosoles 100-53 in November 2000 in a game where the great Dino Radja posted a double-double. The 109 points scored was the Reds' most since the David Rivers-led team that went on to win the title beat Estudiantes 110-78 in October 1996.
CSKA Moscow survived a tough challenge from Zalgiris Kaunas for a 78-70 win that stretched the Russian champion's Euroleague winning streak at Universal Sports Arena to 21 games. It was a big night for Ramunas Siskauskas, who led all scorers with 19 points, and David Andersen, who came up big down the stretch. Zalgiris can take some inspiration from the game in that the team mounted a spirited comeback to tie the game in the fourth quarter and that newcomer Michael Bradley played well in his Euroleague debut.
Montepaschi Siena extended its dominance over Virtus VidiVici Bologna with an 80-69 win. Although the game was the first meeting between the two in international competition, it stretched Montepaschi's winning streak against VidiVici to seven games. Vlado Ilievski was the big gun when it mattered most as the hosts finished the game on a 19-5 tear to improve to 3-2.
Tau Ceramica retained a share of first place in Group A while becoming the first team to beat Union Olimpija at home in Ljubljana this season. Tau won 78-92 for its fourth straight victory as last season's Euroleague Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy Winner, Igor Rakocevic, scored a season-high 26.
Efes Pilsen sent a message that echoed all around Group B by downing previously undefeated Lietuvos Rytas 70-77 in Vilnius, Lithuania. However while winning for the first time on the road this season, Efes may have lost star guard Drew Nicholas, who left the game with a sprained ankle in the final minute.
Armani Jeans Milano saved its first Group B victory of the season for a very old rival by edging Aris TT Bank 70-77 in Thessaloniki, Greece. Milano ended a four-game losing streak and handed Aris its first Euroleague loss at the Alexandrio this season. Dusan Vukcevic paced Milano with 21 points, while Travis Watson became the league's top rebounder by grabbing 16 boards. Aris and Milano were Euroleague rivals in the late 1980s and early '90s. Milano beat Aris 87-82 in the semis at the very first Euroleague Final Four in Ghent, Belgium, in 1988.
Unicaja grabbed a share of the top spot in Group B by surging at the finish for a 74-83 road win at Le Mans Sarthe Basket in France. Unicaja blew a 14-point halftime lead and scored just 6 points in 12 minutes after the break, but recovered and turned the tables on Le Mans down the stretch to take the win. Big men Daniel Santiago and German Gabriel paced Unicaja on offense with 14 points each.
Maccabi Elite held on for a tough 80-74 win over visiting Cibona Zagreb. The Israeli champs built a 23-point third-quarter lead, but Tre Kelley led Cibona back to within 3 before Marcus Fizer sealed the win with a slam and a free throw with 15.6 seconds to go.
Defending champion Panathinaikos became the only unbeaten team through five games this season and the Greens set a scoring record and tied the biggest scoring night for any Euroleague team ever with an 83-123 victory in France over Chorale Roanne. Panathinaikos broke its own record for most points scored on the road in a Euroleague game and tied the record for most points in a Euroleague game.
 AXA FC Barcelona wrote another chapter in its rivalry with Real Madrid by knocking off the next-to-last undefeated team in the Euroleague 73-62. Jaka Lakovic was the hero for the winners, flirting with a triple-double before finishing with 14 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
Partizan Igokea and center Nikola Pekovic continued their amazing start to the season with a 91-86 win over Lottomatica Roma. Pekovic, who never scored 20 points in a game before this season, topped the mark for the fourth time in five games with 21 points and 8 rebounds. The center already has more points in five games this season than in 20 appearances last season.
Fenerbahce Ulker used a late rally to edge Brose Baskets Bamberg 79-77 in Istanbul, Turkey, for its third consecutive victory. Will Solomon paced the winners with 21 points, 8 assists and the game-winning free throws with 10 seconds remaining.
|
Friday, November 23, 2007
Euroleague.net
|