Darussafaka Dogus remained in the EuroLeague Playoff hunt after a second quarter blitz ultimately secured a 67-56 win against Barcelona.
It was in fact the Catalan side that started the brighter of the two sides with Barca going into the second 13-11 to the good.
But then followed an offensive onslaught by the hosts who held Barcelona to just nine points while hitting 32 points themselves to take a commanding 44-22 lead at the break and they never looked back.
“Obviously our first half tonight was exceptional,” explained Darussafaka coach David Blatt. And defensively for the entire game we held a very, very talented team to 56 points and that says everything.
“Second half offensively we didn’t execute well, we didn’t find good solutions. We didn’t make shots, we didn’t make free throws, we turned the ball over. And a lot of our offensive difficulties I take on myself. That’s no small part my responsibility. That means I have to do a better job too. But really a big win, a well-played first half all-around and a well-played game defensively. And we’re happy.”
Will Clyburn scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the second quarter to lead the Darussafaka resurgence.
Baskonia moved up to fifth place in the table after they edged CSKA Moscow 79-78 in a thriller in Vitoria.
After a timeout with 40.9 seconds left, Larkin nailed a long jumper as Baskonia took the lead. CSKA went down the court, Nando De Colo missed a long jumper, but CSKA grabbed an offensive rebound.
However, Baskonia forced James Augustine into a bad pass and the hosts ran out the final 12 seconds off the clock.
Adam Hanga led the winners with 15 points. Shane Larkin added 12 as they denied CSKA the chance to pull clear at the top.
“It was a great game,” Larkin said. “We were up the entire game and then down the stretch they had some big shots.
“They went up by one point. But we drew up a great play, and I was glad I could make the shot for my team. We came up with the ball on defence and pulled out a big win.”
Zalgiris stayed in the hunt for the EuroLeague Playoffs by downing already eliminated Unics Kazan 82-80 at Basket Hall Kazan on Friday.
Paulius Jankunas led the winners with 21 points, including the game-winning free throws in the final minute.
“Of course, we expected [a tough fourth quarter]; we knew Unics is playing well at home and were ready for that,” Jankunas said.
“A couple of mistakes on defence made the score tight and it was really a tough end of the game. Saras said in the last timeout not to foul to the three-point shooter.”
Galatasaray stunned another Playoff-bound side as they defeated Olympiacos 80-71 in Piraeus.
Vladimir Micov hit 4/5 three-pointers, including back-to-back game-deciders in the last two minutes, to lead the winners with 18 points as the Turkish side came back from a 15-point deficit.
