Zalgiris moved to 2-0 in Group C of the Euroleague after a 77-71 win away at Caja Laboral.

It was a solid outing from the Lithuanian champions, who used a 9-0 run in third quarter as their platform for victory. They were 14 points up at that point but needed to survive a late fightback from Caja Laboral, who now drop to 0-2.

Tremmell Darden led all scorers for Zalgiris with 17 points.

“Our group is a very tough one, but we worked hard, the coach is giving us a lot of confidence and we believe in the system he is trying to implement, ” Darden explained.

“When things get tough, you must stay peaceful, we stayed together instead of separating, and that’s a key factor when you play in an enviroment like this. We showed character.”

Both Brad Oleson and Andres Nocioni led Caja Laboral with 13 points.

BC Khimki grabbed their first win this season after scraping past Real Madrid 86-85 in Moscow despite nearly blowing a 18-point third quarter lead.

After a close first half, which Khimki finished 42-35 ahead, they then shut down Madrid’s offensive threat in the third quarter to pull away, leading by as many as 18 but settling for 69-55. They then collapsed in the fourth; allowing Real Madrid room to manoeuver and score freely.

A 16-0 run from the visitors gave them a 72-71 lead half-way through the fourth to set up a tense finish. Khimki would get the lead back with 8.3 seconds remaining. Madrid gave the ball to Rudy Fernandez who saw his floater miss the basket.

Kresimir Loncar led Khimki with 17 points and four rebounds. Ferandez and Felipe Reyes led Real with 15 each.

Despite missing Romain Sato due to passport problems upon arrival in Slovenia, Fenerbahce defeated Union Olimpija 81-75 in Ljubljana to go 2-0.

The Istanbul had more problems facing them as Bo McCalebb was taken out with appears to be an ankle injury. He left with 17 points and five assists and still led all scorers.

Union Olimpija drop to 1-1 and were led by Aron Baynes’ 14 points.

Anadolu Efes made a statement of intent by thrashing Euroleague champions Olympiacos 98-72 at the Abdi Ipecki.

The Turkish side hit their first seven three-pointers as they blitzed a sub-par Greek side. Jordan Farmar led all scorers with 25 points including hitting all four of his three-point attempts.

His former team-mate at the Los Angeles Lakers, Sasha Vujacic supported with 15 points. Vassilis Spanoulis led the charge for the Reds with 14.

EA7 Milano went 2-0 in the Euroleague after defeating Cedevita Zagreb 83-71. Keith Langford led the Italians with 17 points while Mickael Galabele had 20 points and eight rebounds for Zagreb.