Unicaja Malaga missed their chance to become the first team to qualify for the Euroleague Top 16 after losing 73-53 to Brose Baskets in Group D.
The German side improve to 4-2, while the Liga Endesa side go to 5-1 in the standings. Both teams are still in contention to qualify for the next round.
But Bamberg’s Janis Strelnieks, who led the victors with 15 points, is not thinking Top 16 at all.
“It’s a little too early to say about the Top 16,” he said, “There are still a lot of games. Everything can happen, but we have to be focused and do our job and we’ll be all right.
Holding a team that was undefeated to 53 points, I think that’s really good defence. Leon Radosevic is young, but he has a lot of experience in the Euroleague for good teams. For him it wasn’t hard to adjust to our team. We helped him, too. He’s our new teammate.”
Elsewhere in Group D, Luke Harangody put on the performance of week six as Darussafaka Dogus beat Dinamo Sassari 68-60.
Harangody hit 26 points and pulled down 13 rebounds for the Turkish side as they go to .500 at 3-3. Sassari remains winless at 0-6.
“To come here on the road, in a tough place to play, against a great team, this is important for us in the Euroleague,” Harangody said.
“There are a lot of things we need to clean up, but overall, tonight I think we played a great game. This team is still learning how to play with each other, but I think that in the past few games you can tell we are coming together, we are playing a lot better and learning each others’ game. It is getting more smooth every game.”
Lokomotiv Kuban responded to their first defeat of the Euroleague season last week by beating Panathinaikos 77-71 in Athens in Group C.
The Russian side, led by Malcolm Delaney’s 23 points, go to 5-1 and can qualify next week with a win. The 2011 Euroleague champions drop to 2-4 after suffering their first home loss of the season.
And in Group B, Anadolu Efes snapped a three-game skid with a comprehensive 92-74 victory over Limoges.
Efes improved to 3-3, while Limoges dropped to 2-4. Derrick Brown led the winners with 21 points, Thomas Heurtel added 20, and Bryant Dunston posting a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds.
