Zalgiris Kaunas vs Valencia

Zalgiris (6-4) is back in the winning column. The Lithuanian team got a big win in Spain where they overcame a double-digit deficit and in the end prevailed against Valencia 80-76. 

Valencia (4-6) now has three “L’s” in a row despite a great game from Chris Jones who scored 19 points. James Webb added 15. On the winning side, Rolands Smits scored 19 points. Keenan Evas played great down the stretch and got 18 points for Zalgiris. 

The game started with an offensive clinic on both sides, not entirely on the level of Real Madrid and Partizan from last night, but non the less it was exciting to watch Valencia and Zalgiris going back and forth in the first quarter. 

The Spanish side was a bit better scoring 32 points. The offensive rhythm dropped significantly in the second quarter, but Valencia had a comfortable halftime lead of 44-37.

The start of the second half was all Valencia.  James Web scored to give his team a double-digit lead (50-40). But to the credit of the Lithuanian side, they did not give up. Zalgiris was back in the game with a quick 7-0 run. They were only trailing by two points going into the final 10 minutes (61-59).

It was clear that Zalgiris was playing better by then, after a strong drive to the paint and a bucket by Keenan Evans, the guests had the lead (65-64). A nail-biting finish ensued. Another Keenan Evans bucket leveled the scoreboard 71-71 with only three minutes remaining.

Then an unlikely hero emerged for Zalgiris – Tyler Cavanaugh. The American forward scored five points in a row to give his team a 76-71 lead. It proved too much for Valencia to overcome in the end.

Anadolu Efes vs Virtus Bologna

In a fiery battle between the reigning Turkish Airlines EuroLeague and 7DAYS EuroCup champions, Anadolu Efes ran away with the win, 85-80, against Virtus Segafredo Bologna in PalaDozza Friday.

With a 16-point advantage cut to one point entering the final minute of the Regular Season Round 10 contest, Will Clyburn connected a clutch three-pointer. The former EuroLeague champion, first-season player of the Istanbul outfit, ended up with a team-high 21 points plus seven rebounds and four assists.

Ergin Ataman’s side led for most of the first half but by slim margins. An 8-0 sprint shaped the first double-digit lead with 5:02 remaining in the third quarter. Behind a brief flurry of effective shooting from outside, the distance grew to 16 points.

Also dealing with a rough shooting night, Vu Nere almost came all the way back from being down 16 points. Successful plays in defense helped them get back in shooting distance. The momentum was temporarily halted as Milos Teodosic was issued a technical foul for protesting a call and was tossed on a fifth foul. The experienced Serbian guard had six points, four assists, and two rebounds.

Narrowly holding on with Isaia Cordinier missing the opportunity to tie, 83-83, in the dying seconds of the tight affair, Efes paired wins in Italy over the two-game week and went up to 5-5 overall with a third win in a row.

Amath M’Baye put in nine of his 11 points in the third quarter pushing his side to the largest lead of the game. Delivering more French help, Rodrigue Beaubois checked in 19 points with 5/8 field goals and pulled down eight rebounds. 

Gabriel Iffe Lundberg turned in a season-high 22 points behind 9/14 field goals but to no avail. Jordan Mickey and Semi Ojeleye finished with 15 points each. On the injury list, Tornike Shengelia (ankle) was out alongside Awudu Abass (knee). Youngsters Leo Menalo (back) and Gora Camara were sidelined as well. 

The third loss at home sent Scariolo’s side to 4-6. The Bologna outfit will welcome Happy Casa Brindisi gunning for an 8-0 start in Italy’s LBA Serie A Sunday. Moving to Round 11 of EuroLeague slides in the visit to Crvena Zvezda mts Friday. 

Barcelona vs Baskonia 

Cory Higgins scored 11 out of his season-high 17 points in the last five minutes as Barcelona beat Baskonia 96 – 84 after a very close battle for the larger part of the game. Thanks to this win, Barca completed the double-game week with two out of two to improve to 7 – 3 overall. 

With the score 81 – 79 and 5:08 to play, Higgins drained three consecutive triples for a 9 – 1 run thanks to which Barca went up by double figures for the first time in the match. The Blaugrana had also raised the level of their intensity on defense, keeping Baskonia without a basket for six out of the last eight minutes. In the meantime, Jan Vesely (a season-high 18 points) helped secure the win with four points of his own down the stretch. 

After scoring three in each of the previous two games, Markus Howard bounced back to form with 25 points to lead Baskonia’s offense. Pierria Henry had 13 points plus six assists and Matt Costello also scored 13 for the Basque side that is now 5-5. 

The whole affair was a shootout where both teams delivered very productive performances and both coaches Sarunas Jasikevicius and Joan Penarroya had several complaints regarding their teams’ defense. Barcelona tried to pull away with a 10 – 3 run for the 75 – 68 in the third quarter and Baskonia responded to tie the match at 76 thanks to Howard. 

Howard also scored for the 78 – 78 but then Barcelona held Baskonia to just two points via free throws in the next six minutes.  In the meantime, Higgins’ shooting gave the hosts the necessary edge to get the victory. 

Barca big man Oscar da Silva had 11 points for a EuroLeague season best of his own. 

Panathinaikos vs ASVEL 

It seems that Dejan Radonjic finally put the pieces together, as Panathinaikos Athens cruised past LDLC ASVEL with a 77-58 victory in Round 10 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. 

It was the second win in a row for the team from OAKA, as they improved to a 4-6 score, while the French champions suffered their fourth straight loss, and fell to 3-7. 

Dwayne Bacon shined in a blow-out triumph with an EuroLeague career-high 25 points and a PIR of 26. 

Mateusz Ponitka followed with an all-around performance and ended the match with 10 points, seven assists, and five rebounds for a PIR of 23.  In one of the worst offensive executions of the season for ASVEL, Yves Pons scored 11 points, while the experienced big man Alex Tyus had a near-double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. 

After a tough first quarter, where both teams struggled to score, Panathinaikos took off with a 12-2 run midway in the second period, for a 39-24 lead at halftime. 

The Greens continued crushing their opponents after the break, opened the third period with a 13-2 run, and it was pretty clear that there was no turning back for ASVEL, as they scored only 37 points in 30 minutes. T. J. Parker’s team tried to soften the blow in the last period and had the best-scoring quarter in the game (21), but that was it. 

AS Monaco vs FC Bayern 

Andreas Obst scared Monaco, but Bayern didn’t have the time to steal the game. Monaco got the 80-79 win, however, Bayern tried its best with a 9-1 run in the last 38 seconds of the game. 

Elie Okobo scored 16 points, Mike James and Alpha Diallo added 13 points each, and Donta Hall had 10 points for the winning side. Obst scored 15 out of his 18 points in the last quarter for Bayern, while Augustin Rubit added 14 points. 

Despite a 15-4 start by the hosts, the game was close from wire to wire with Monaco leading by three (17-14) at the end of the first quarter, by one at halftime (34-33), and by three (53-50) again at the end of the third. 

Still, Monaco entered the last six minutes leading by eight (63-55) thanks to an 8-2 run. The lead jumped to 10 (67-57) after a three by Okobo and Bayern managed to get into a striking distance again with 34 seconds left (79-76) thanks to three made free throws by Obst. 

Jordan Loyd answered with 1/2 free throws (80-76) and Obst beat the clock to make it a one-point game (80-79) with 0.6” left. 

Monaco has a solid 7-3 record after this game, while Bayern stayed at 3-7.