CSKA Moscow were pushed to their very limits by fellow Russian counterparts Nizhny Novgorod, but in the end prevailed in overtime 103-95 to improve to 5-0 in Group F of the Euroleague Top 16.
In a thrilling battle, CSKA, without Sonny Weems, looked to have the upper hand, leading 73-62, midway through the final quarter and even though Nizhny narrowed the gap with three minutes to goat 86-80, the Muscovites still looked to be in the driving seat.
Nizhny, led by Taylor Rochestie, had other ideas and an 8-2 finish forced overtime. Unfortunately though for the visitors, CSKA had an extra gear, which Nizhny could not contain and they eased home in the extra period.
Milos Teodosic led the winners with 25 points. Andrey Vorontsevich added 22, Aaron Jackson had 15 and 6 assists. Rochestie and Trey Thompkins led Nizhny with 22 points as they drop to 2-3 with this loss.
“We got another win and we expected this game to be difficult,” CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis said. “We are not in our best moment, under stress with minor injuries and absences. Still we work hard, stay professional and, as you see, we keep winning. I said in the locker room after the game that I am proud of the team’s effort.”
The second game of Group F saw Laboral Kutxa run riot in the first quarter and never looked back as they beat struggling EA7 Milano 102-83 in Vitoria.
The Liga Endesa side hit 34 points in the first ten minutes, taking an 16-point heading into the second period and from there, the result was only going one way.
Latvian Davis Bertans led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points with Mike James adding 16.
Anadolu Efes inflicted a first loss on Olympiacos in the third Group F game, winning 84-70 as CSKA Moscow now lead the group on their own.
Olympiacos enjoyed the majority of the lead in the first half of play, and led 40-37 at the half, but the hosts pulled through and seized the initiative in the third, as a tired Greek side could not run with Anadolu in the final ten minutes.
Dontaye Draper led Anadolu with 14 points.
“I think we did a great job of stopping a great team like Olympiacos in the second half,” Draper said. “We had energy on the floor. Then we had some great shots to break the balance. It was a great team effort.”
In Group E, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv came from behind to beat Real Madrid 90-86 in a re-lived classic of last season’s championship game in Milan.
Real got off to a fast start, by racing to a 31-23 cushion and held fire in the second quarter to take a 54-46 lead at the half. But the Israeli champions stormed back and showed their Euroleague-winning credential in the final quarter to complete their comeback and take the win and leave both teams with 4-1 records.
Sofoklis Schortsanitis dominated early and finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds for the champs. MarQuez Haynes also scored 17. Felipe Reyes had another monster game for Madrid with 20 points and 11 rebounds. He became the Euroleague’s career rebounding leader with his final rebound in the closing seconds.
Red Star Belgrade recorded their first win in the Top 16 by comfortably seeing-off ALBA Berlin 86-69 in the Serbian capital.
Boban Marjanovic led Red Star with 17 points and 12 rebounds in a dominating display as ALBA never looked at the races in Belgrade.
