Barcelona edged EA7 Milano 84-80 in a thrilling Group C encounter, as the Liga Endesa champions remain perfect at 7-0.
But they were made to work hard for their win, as there were seven lead changes in the final 2:46 of the game but the game was essentially decided when Nicolo Melli was hit with an unsportsmanlike foul with 7.7 seconds left. Alex Abrines split a pair of free throws and Justin Doellman hit both of his with 6.5 seconds to make sure of the win.
“We missed a lot of open three-point shots and were 15 down late in the second quarter,” Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual said. “Milan had a run, which was our most difficult moment in this game, allowing a lot of points in a short period of time. We let them get in the game and have chances to win.
“It was a difficult situation but thanks to our fans and hard work, we managed to change the game’s dynamic, which was completely against us. This is one of these wins that makes me happy, because it is difficult and my team deserves a lot of credit.”
Ante Tomic led Barca with 18 points. Daniel Hackett led all scorers with 21 points for Milano, who drop to 2-5.
The other game in Group C saw Panathinaikos ease past Bayern Munich 87-72 in Athens.
Panathinaikos join Barcelona in the Top 16 with this win as tbey go to 5-2 in the group, while Bayern drop to 1-6 and now they face a do-or-die game next week against EA7 Milano where if they lose, they will be eliminated.
A.J. Slaughter led the winners with 17 points. Bo McCalebb paced Bayern with 15 points.
Zalgiris came from behind to defeat Nizhny Novgorod 61-55 in Group A as they go to 4-3 in the group and more importantly hold the head-to-head over their Russian counterparts, who drop to 3-4.
Trailing 37-23 at the half, Zalgiris held Nizhny to just 7 points in the third quarter to turn the game around and then pulled away early in the fourth to secure the win.
James Anderson led Zalgiris with 18 points.
“The last game against Nizhny ended with a big win for us,” Zalgiris coach Gintaras Krapikas said. “I knew that Bagatskis’s team wouldn’t let it go, so we prepared to face an aggressive opponent. Plus Nizhny is playing great in its last games, big wins against Sassari and Unics.
“We expected to have some struggles, but I’m glad that my guys listened to what I said in the locker room during the halftime break; they changed their approach and that is what led us to win the game.”
Taylor Rochestie led Nizhny with 15 points.
Anadolu Efes comfortably saw-off Dinamo Sassari 85-62 in the other Group A game in Istanbul.
Dario Saric secured an impressive double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds as they joined Real Madrid at the top of the group with a 5-2 record.
Rakim Sanders led Sassari with 11 points as they drop to 1-6.
A strong first quarter from Valencia saw them overcome Galatasaray 78-71 to stay alive in Group D.
The Liga Endesa moves to 2-5 in the group as they raced ahead 27-17 after the first ten minutes and never looked back.
Kresimir Loncar paced the winners with 15 points. Luke Harangody added 13, Vladimir Lucic had 11 while Bojan Dubljevic got 10 for Valencia. Pietro Aradori led Galatasaray with a game-high of 20 points as they drop to 3-4.
Cedevita Zagreb thrashed Limoges 102-83 to stay in contention in Group B, as career nights from both Miro Bilan, who dominated inside, and Fran Pilepic who hit 5 three-pointers helped the Croatians to victory.
Cedevita move to 2-5 in the group, while Limoges drop to 1-6, and face an uphill struggle to get out of the regular season.
Bilan finished with a career-high 24 points along with 8 rebounds in victory, while Pilepic netted career-high 21 points on 5/7 three-point shooting.
