Mike James scored a game-high 28 points including an impressive four-point play to force overtime as Monaco defeated Real Madrid 95 – 94 on the road in one of the most thrilling EuroLeague games this season. Τhis result snapped a six-game winning streak of Real, now 10-4, while bringing Monaco to 9-3.

With Monaco down 84 – 88 and three seconds left in regulation, James hit the 3-pointer in front of Edy Tavares and won the foul by the reigning DPOY to make the game-tying free throw. On the other end, Real leading performer Dzanan Musa (24 points) misfired from long range as his team, that was up by eight points with four minutes to play in the final quarter was forced to head to overtime.

Monaco took and retained a small advantage in the extra period, going ahead 92 – 95. Real missed multiple opportunities to tie the score, including two wide-open 3-pointers by Sergio Rodriguez in the last minute and Musa made free throws for the 94 – 95 with 27 seconds remaining. Real didn’t foul any Monaco players to pause the clock and, after a missed attempt by James, didn’t even have time for a good shot to win the match.

Jordan Loyd dropped 19 points for Monaco before he exited the game on a stretcher late in the final seconds of regulation after receiving an accidental elbow hit by Guerschon Yabusele, which caused his nose to bleed. Monaco coach Sasa Obradovic confirmed that his player suffered a broken nose.

Tavares finished with 17 points plus a career-high 18 rebounds for Real Madrid. His team took a 38 – 28 lead in the second period and held it until the third period, which Monaco finished ahead 62 – 65.

Yabusele (12 points, six rebounds), Llull (12 points) and Musa lifted Real towards going up 81 – 73 down the stretch but Monaco wasn’t done yet. Loyd scored four points for the 84 – 81 and then Elie Okobo hit a big triple to make it 86 – 84. Tavares answered with a pair of free throws but James sent the game to overtime where his team prevailed.

Partizan vs Crvena Zvezda: Nemanja Nedovic called game and Crvena Zvezda got the win over Partizan

Nemanja Nedovic made just one three in seven attempts, but it was the one that decided the game. With two seconds left, Nedovic completed a big game with 20 points and gave Crvena Zvezda the 76-73 win over cross-town rivals Partizan in their first-ever EuroLeague game.

Yam Madar had one last chance to send the game to overtime for Partizan but missed it and Zvezda has a five-game winning streak having a 6-6 record, while the hosts dropped to 4-8.

“I heard people saying we were going to be the main dish tonight, but we are not tasting good”, said Nedovic after the game referring to a sold-out arena with the vast majority of the fans rooting for Partizan.

Partizan started the game leading 20-11 after the first quarter, but Zvezda had a 40-33 halftime advantage. Still, the second half ended up being a dogfight. Yam Madar tied the score to 44-44 for Partizan, Zvezda entered the last ten minutes with a 54-52 lead, and with five minutes left Partizan was up by three (67-64) after a two-pointer by Tristan Vukcevic.

Dante Exum stretched the lead to four (69-65), Vukcevic blocked Vildoza, and Kevin Punter with a two-pointer (71-65) gave to Partizan a solid advantage with three minutes left in the game. That was not the end of it.

Hassan Martin with a two-pointer and Vildoza with a three made it a one-point game (71-70) with two minutes left. Ioannis Papapetrou hit his shot for Partizan and Vildoza with one more three tied the score at 73.

Punter had 15 points for the losing side, Madar had 14, Papapetrou added 13, and Mathias Lessort had a double-double (11 p. 10 r.) but it was not enough.

Panathinaikos vs EA7 Emporio Armani Milan: Milan continue to struggle

Playing with four fouls for most of the fourth quarter and overtime, Dwayne Bacon refused to accept defeat and instead lifted Panathinaikos to the overtime win, 90-77, over EA7 Emporio Armani Milan Thursday.

Bacon, 27, dropped six points in the fourth period and seven in the extra five minutes for a season personal best 31 points. Limited to 2/8 three-pointers, the first make fueled the last-ditch comeback bid in crunch time and the second got a safe distance in the overtime of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 12 contest. The Florida State product scored at least 12 points and one three-pointer for the 11th consecutive outing in Europe’s top-tier club continental competition.

Struggling to avoid mental missteps on key plays without floor general Nate Wolters (virus infection), relentless Bacon penetrating produced plenty of offense and kept things interesting, in spite of the visitors presenting a 15-point lead late in the third period. Rallying behind improved defense was the main reason for jumping to 6-6. The Little Red Shoes from Milan scored only 18 points in the last ten minutes of regulation and the extra period.

Frustration on the opposite end as the Milan outfit fell to 3-9 with an eighth straight loss. Nicolo Melli was making things happen in defense and stuffed the stat sheet with seven points, six assists, six rebounds, and four steals but to no avail.

Naz Mitrou-Long packed 16 points and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot had 15 points in the losing effort. Kevin Pangos (right knee), Shavon Shields (left foot), Luigi Datome (virus infection), and Stefano Tonut (thigh) all remained sidelined along with Paul Biligha.

Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Valencia: Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv got a big win over Valencia on the night that Nikola Vujcic became officially a EuroLeague legend

Maccabi Tel Aviv saved the best for last, getting the big 84-68 win over Valencia. The hosts dominated the last period and ended up getting an easy win, despite a big fight for 30 minutes.

Lorenzo Brown with 15 points and six assists led the charge for Maccabi, Darrun Hilliard returned to action and added 11 points, while Bonzie Colson had 10 points.

Valencia trailed by six (53-47) entering the last period, however, the hosts with Brown scoring five of his points got a 65-56 lead and then continued with an 8-2 run (73-58) to seal the deal.

Xabi Lopez-Arostegui with 15 points and Victor Claver with 13 were the top scorers of the losing side with Valencia not being able to get the lead or tie the game after the first quarter.

It was a fitting game for the night that Maccabi great Nikola Vujcic was named officially a EuroLeague legend. The Israeli club has now a solid 6-6 record, while Valencia is just behind them at 5-7.

Fenerbahce vs ALBA Berlin: Fenerbahce was ferocious in Berlin against ALBA.

An impressive number of eight (!) players scored in double figures for Fenerbahce Beko as the Turkish side blew out ALBA Berlin 104 – 75 on the road in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 12 to improve to 10-2. ALBA lost for a ninth straight match and dropped to 3-9.

Carsen Edwards led the balanced Fener offense with 13 points and eight assists.

He had 10 of his points and six of his dimes at halftime when his team took a 35 – 54 lead and never looked back as more and more players entered the scoring equation.

Marko Guduric added 13 points plus six assists to Fener‘s win while Johnathan Motley had 11 points and six rebounds. Nick Calathes contributed 10 points, seven assists, and six rebounds, Tonye Jekiri posted 10 points plus 10 boards, and Nigel Hayes-Davis scored 10, as many as Devin Booker and Metecan Birsen.

Jaleen Smith dropped 15 points for ALBA but his side trailed from start to finish. The hosts reacted after a 10 – 21 to cut their deficit to 21-24 but Fener responded strongly to once again take a double-digit advantage and never let it go for the rest of the match. Ben Lammers added 12 points and five steals to ALBA’s efforts while Maodo Lo scored 12 and Johannes Thiemman pitched in 10 points.