February 10, 2012
Regular Season Week 2 in review
Benjamin Eze - Montepaschi SienaRegal FC Barcelona cruised to a second straight blowout win by routing Cibona 81-59. Reigning Euroleague MVP Juan Carlos Navarro paced the attack with 20 points and Terrence Morris added 15 as all 12 Barca players scored at least 2 points, 11 of the 12 grabbed a rebound and no one played more than 25 minutes. The win marked the third time in four seasons that the club has started the season 2-0.

Montepaschi Siena continued its strong start to the season by hurdling Zalgiris 84-64. The Italian champs have won their first two games by a combined 65 points – 20 more than the next closest team. Despite the star of last week’s win, big man Ksistof Lavrinovic, sidelined, the hosts closed out the first half with a 13-0 charge and never looked back. Benjamin Eze matched his Euroleague career-high with 16 points to lead the winners and Henry Domercant and Romain Sato added 15 and 13, respectively.

Fenerbahce Ulker scored its first win of the new season by downing Asvel Basket on the road in overtime 76-78. Tarence Kinsay scored 21 and Omer Asik produced a double-double for the winners. Asvel, which was without star center Curtis Borchardt, got a great effort from his replacement, Ali Traore, who posted 29 points and 13 rebounds in his first Euroleague start. Asvel needed a late 10-0 run to get back in the game, setting up a thrilling finish and overtime, but could not repeat the magic in the extra period.

Unicaja walloped Olympiacos 86-68 riding the hot hand of Taquan Dean, who netted a Euroleague career-high 19 points. Joel Freeland added a double-double for the winners as they outrebounded Olympiacos 38-27. All 11 Unicaja players in uniform scored at least 2 points and Freeland (27 minutes) was the only player on the floor for more than 25 minutes. The victory gave Unicaja a 2-0 start for the first time in its Euroleague history.

Martinas Gecevicius - Lietuvos RytasLietuvos Rytas spoiled Entente Orleanaise’s home debut with a 62-69 win. L. Rytas improved to 2-0 by leaning on the same backcourt duo that led it last week, playmaker Bojan Popovic with 11 points and 9 assists and shooting guard Martynas Gecevicius, who was 4 for 6 from downtown en route to 16 points. The key stat for L. Rytas was its 27-41 rebounding advantage. L. Rytas improved its strong road record to 6-2 in the regular season over the past three Euroleague seasons.

Charles Smith and Preston Shumpert combined for 35 points off the bench to lead Efes Pilsen to its first win of the season, 77-67, over Partizan Belgrade. The visitors led 35-37 at halftime before Smith sparked a 10-0 third-quarter charge and Efes held on from that point. The hosts played much of the game with a three-guard lineup and still managed to hold their own in rebounding (33-37), while forcing Partizan into 17 turnovers.

Lottomatica Roma cemented the best start to a Euroleague season in club history by beating CSKA on the road in Moscow 69-74. Roma had never before started a season with back-to-back wins. Andre Hutson paced the winners with 15 points and six Romans scored at least 8. For CSKA, Trajan Langdon sat out due to illness. It ended a streak of 96 consecutive Euroleague starts made by Langdon since he joined the club in 2005.

Caja Laboral survived a stern test from Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv for an 86-81 win behind All-Euroleague center Tiago Splitter’s career-high 26 points and 7 rebounds. All eyes were on former Maccabi player Lior Eliyahu, who did not disappoint with 12 points and 7 rebounds off the bench for the winners, but it was the play of Splitter and point guard Marcelinho Huertas that led Laboral to its first win in Group C.

Short-handed Maroussi BC held on to defeat Union Olimpija 75-81 on the road for its first ever Euroleague victory. With two key players staying home due to illness, Maroussi turned to Dimitrios Mavroeidis, who shined with 18 points off the bench. The Maroussi defense also forced the hosts in 22 turnovers, which were too many to overcome. Matt Walsh led Olimpija with 32 points on 7-of-9 three-point shooting.

Nikola Pekovic - PanathinaikosIn its first Euroleague home game as defending champion, Panathinaikos crushed Khimki Moscow Region 101-66. Star guard Dimitris Diamantidis notched a career-high 22 points and All-Euroleague center Nikola Pekovic had 20 for the Greens. Vassilis Spanoulis and Nick Calathes each dished out 6 of Panathinaikos’s 24 assists, while Khimki produced just 3. Panathinaikos also forced Khimki into more than twice as many turnovers (17) as it committed (8).

Real Madrid earned its first victory of the Euroleague season and handed Asseco Prokom its second defeat 94-72. Madrid took charge early, hitting 81% from two-point range and 6-of-13 from long range in the first half to go into the break up. Week 1 MVP Darjus Lavrinovic led the winners with 19 points and Louis Bullock added 14 among six Madrid scorers in double figures.

The first-ever Euroleague game in Oldenburg, Germany ended up a disappointment for the home fans, but a major boost for the visitors as Armani Jeans Milano rallied to defeat EWE Baskets 70-79. Milano's first victory in Group D came after a fourth-quarter blast that featured a flurry of 5 three-pointers in as many minutes and 10 points in the final four minutes by Mason Rocca. Jonas Maciulis led the winners with 18 points, while Rocca had 16, most of those sustaining the lead down the stretch, as one of three double-digit scorers to come off the bench.
Monday, November 02, 2009
Euroleague.net
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