Justin Doellman breathed new life into Barcelona’s quarter-final Playoff hopes with a dramatic 100-98 overtime win over CSKA Moscow in Group F of the Euroleague Top 16.
With CSKA looking certain for victory at 98-95, Doellman hit a three-pointer to tie the game with 4.4 seconds left, then stole and buried the game-winner with 1.5 seconds remaining to lift Barcelona to a crucial victory that had looked impossible just moments before.
The Liga Endesa side improve to 5-5 in the group, thanks to Dolman’s heroics.
“Incredible feeling,” Doellman said. “There at the end, my teammates found me. I was able to hit that three, tied the game. And was able to steal the ball and hit the game-winner. Anything’s possible. You have to believe until the end. God gave me that one, and thank god for the ability to play. It’s a big victory and it keeps us in the hunt. We’ll see what happens.”
Ante Tomic led Barcelona with 21 points with Tomas Satoransky adding 19, including two free throws that took the game to overtime.
Barca’s Liga Endesa rivals, Real Madrid were also successful, but had a more comfortable route to victory on the road over Zalgiris.
However, the reigning Euroleague champions were made to work as they fought back from a first half deficit to pull clear in the third quarter and never look back as they recorded a 90-75 victory.
Andres Nocioni led the champions with 22 points and seven rebounds.
RED STAR SWEEP PANATHINAIKOS
Crvena Zvezda completed a season sweep over Panathinaikos which could have a sense of importance when the Euroleague Top 16 concludes.
The Serbian team’s narrow 69-67 win over the Greens in Belgrade puts them at 6-4 after week 10 of the Top 16, the same record as Panathinaikos but Red Star move above their Greek counterparts into third place in Group E.
Terance Kinsey scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the winners.
“First I want to thank god,” Kinsey said. “There was a lot of prayer. I know we needed this win, the team knew we needed it, the city knew we needed it. And I just want to thank god because it was one of those wins that we needed. We had problems during the year losing big games after losing some we could have won, like in Fenerbahce. It showed a lot of guts from us and I’m proud of my guys.”
Before the game began, both teams started with a moment of silence for the passing of Mr. Dragan Nikolic, one of Serbia’s most popular actors and a Crvena Zvezda Media Person Award winner.
Anadolu Efes were 72-68 victors over Darussafaka Dogus in the all-Istanbul clash in the other Group E clash.
In a tightly-contested first quarter, filled with emotion, Anadolu Efes raced clear in the second to take a 34-26 lead and despite a fightback from their counterparts, Anadolu escaped with the win.
Thomas Hurtle paced the winners with 21 points.
