There was a controversial ending in Moscow as a KC Rivers buzzer-beater saw Khimki beat Fenerbahce 71-70 on the busiest night of Euroleague action.
Rivers managed to grab the ball after a missed triple from Sergey Monya and he threw it up a fraction of a second before the red light on the backboard lit up to signify the end of the game, despite the best protests from the Fenerbahce players.
At times, Fenerbahce looked lost on offence, as they were without Bo McCalebb, something coach Simone Piangiani put this loss down to at the end.
“It’s a difficult time for us,” he said. “We built our team around Bo McCalebb and without him Fenerbahce doesn’t have its identity.
“It’s not easy because we have a new team and today we had to change our point guards. But the players showed the right mood. We fought until the last second, but unfortunately we lost. It’s important from the point of view of the overall standings in our group. I don’t know what would be if McCalebb had been today on the court.”
Rivers led the Russians with 14 points as they now improve to 4-2 in Group A while Fenerbahce drop to 3-3. The Turks were led by 17 points from David Andersen.
“I feel great after this win because it was very important to take the victory at this moment. For sure we could play better, but we did what we did,” Khimki’s Matt Nielsen said afterwards.
Cedevita Zagreb shocked previously unbeaten Zalgiris 108-106 in a double-overtime classic.
Frenchman Mickael Gelabale got a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds as the Croatian team came from behind to send the game into overtime then Gelabale forced a second extra period as he slammed home Vlado Ilievski’s three-point try. The Lithuanians, who had two goes to win the game couldn’t find the extra gear in the second overtime period as Zagreb celebrated their second win in Group C and Zalgiris tasted their first loss.
Darjus Lavrinovic led Zalgiris with 24 points.
Panathiniakos are alive again after they put Real Madrid to the sword at the OAKA, beating them 78-69.
Stephane Lasme led the Greens with 15 points as they improve to 3-3 in Group A, tied for third with Fenerbahce. They more importantly also hold the tie-breaker over the Liga Endesa giants thanks to a greater win difference.
Madrid, who still sit top of Group A but now with a 4-2 record were led by Carlos Suarez’s 16 points.
Barcelona have become the first side to reach the Top 16 after they comfortably beat Brose Baskets in Bamberg 86-66.
The Catalan side are now 6-0 in Group D as Pete Mickael’s 17 points helped them along to victory as well as a 12-0 burst in the third to pull away from Brose. The German side, who now slip to 2-4 were led by Bostjan Nachbar’s 18 points, but only scored one point in the second half.
Montepaschi Siena keep their winning streak going as they survived an Alba Berlin rally to win 75-73 in the German capital and are now 3-3 in Group B.
Bobby Brown paced the winners for the third game running with 21 points as the Italian champions had built a 14 point advantage at one stage but the hosts regrouped and nearly sent the game to overtime but Zach Morley missed that chance at the death.
Deon Thompson led Alba with 20 points as they now drop to 2-4.
Despite some minor pre-game crowd trouble due to Besiktas fans not being allowed in to the Pionir Hall, Partizan gave their fans something to cheer about as they claimed their first win of the Euroleague season by beating the Istanbul side 87-72.
Dragan Milosavljevic paced the Serbs with 16 points. Vladimir Lucic and Dejan Musli each added 14 as well.
Besiktas, who started this season brightly, are now at 3-3 in Group D. They were led by Curtis Jerrells’ 20 points.
Union Olimpija claimed their second win of the Euroleague and they won the two-game series with Mapooro Cantu by beating them 81-79 at the Stozice Arena.
Jaka Blazic led the way with 30 points as the Slovenian side go to 2-4. Aron Baynes collected a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Cantu, who now sit bottom of Group A, also on 2-4 were led by 20 points from Pietro Aradori.
Unicaja Malaga handed Maccabi Electra its first loss of the Euroleague season by upsetting them at the Nokia Arena 64-62.
This results leaves both teams tied at the top of Group B with 5-1 records but the Israeli side hold the head-to-head advantage due to their five-point win in week one.
Marcus Williams led the Spanish with 12 points while Shawn James was a rebound shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine boards.
Elan Chalon got their second win of the Euroleague season by beating Asseco Prokom 76-70 in Poland. Brion Rush got 18 points for the French side who improve to 2-4 in Group B while Adam Hrycaniuk got 17 points and 10 rebounds for the 1-5 Asseco Prokom.
CSKA Moscow go to 5-1 in Group D following a 71-62 win in Vilnius over Lietuvos Rytas.
Sonny Weems led the Russians with 19 points while the Lithuanians, who slip to 1-5 were fronted by Leon Radosevic’s 17.
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