A perfect night for Nando De Colo allowed CSKA Moscow to romp to a 101-74 win over visiting Unicaja Malaga in the Euroleague, Top 16 on Thursday night.
The French international led all scorers with 28 points, going 11/11 from the field, burying four three-pointers and connecting on both his foul shots, helping CSKA go 4-0 in Group F and go 14 games undefeated in this season’s Euroleague.
Milos Teodosic added 13 points and a Top 16-record 14 assists in the rout of bottom placed Unicaja, who drop to 0-4.
“We played well almost the entire match,” CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “The exception was only in the first quarter, when we allow them to make open shots. But then we started defending as we should have been from the beginning.
“De Colo never missed. Teodosic had 14 assists, which is very important in terms of creating opportunities for others to attack. Our players are completely devoid of selfishness. Any team making 25 assists in a Euroleague game is something you don’t see often.”
Unicaja were paced by Will Thomas and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who each got 11 points.
Fenerbahce took the early lead and held on to it, securing a crucial 82-71 road win against EA7 Milano in the other Group F clash.
The win improves the Turkish side’s record to 2-2, while dropping Milano to 1-3, as they took the lead for good in the first quarter, but never led by more than five points throughout.
Jan Vesely was especially decisive and finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds, Bjelica collected 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Bogdanovic had 11 points and 8 assists. Nikos Zisis and Oguz Savas also scored 11 apiece in victory. For Milan, MarShon Brooks netted 24.
A game-changing 8-0 run from ALBA Berlin allowed them to get a 75-65 win over Galatasaray in an empty Abdi Ipecki Arena in Istanbul.
Reggie Redding and Vojdan Stojanovski hit back-to-back threes in the last two minutes to stretch the German side’s lead from 72-70 to 80-70, killing off any hopes of a Galatasaray fightback.
Redding led the ALBA attack with 16 points, with Zoran Erceg scoring 19 for Galatasaray, which was without starting point guard Carlos Arroyo due to illness. Both teams have 2-2 records in Group E.
Real Madrid’s finishing was deadly, and it needed to be as they ran out 83-65 victors over Panathinaikos in the Spanish capital.
Madrid improved to 4-0 in the Top 16, while Panathinaikos dropped to 2-2. Felipe Reyes led the winners with 18 points and 9 rebounds. Rudy Fernandez added 15 points, Sergio Llull had 14 while Sergio Rodriguez tallied 10 points and 7 assists for Madrid. Esteban Batista led Panathinaikos with 15 points and 9 rebounds.
