Montepaschi Siena did their Euroleague Top 16 hopes no harm after an 89-87 come-from-behind victory over Maccabi Electra in Italy.
Siena are now 4-3 in Group B after starting with a 0-3 record, Bobby Brown led the victors with 16 points as a Devin Smith triple on the buzzer for Maccabi wasn’t enough to bring the game to overtime.
Shawn James led all scorers in vain for Maccabi with an impressive 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Eurochallenge holders Besiktas have qualified for the Top 16 of the Euroleague following an 83-72 win over Brose Baskets in Istanbul.
The Turkish side went on a 10-2 run and then a 14-0 run between the third and fourth period as Besiktas came back from a double-digit deficit in the second quarter to book their spot with a 4-3 record in Group D. Patrick Christopher led the victors with 20 points while Anton Gavel led Brose Baskets with 21 as they fall to 2-5.
Zalgiris booked their place in the Top 16 in style as they crushed helpless Caja Laboral 82-45 in Kaunas.
The Lithuanian champions held their Spanish counterparts to just nine points in both the second and third quarters to breeze their way to the next round with a 6-1 record from Group C while Caja Laboral drop to 1-6 and must beat EA7 Milano next week to keep their slim hopes of progression alive.
Marko Popovic led Zalgiris with 19 points, including four three-pointers. Andres Nocioni and Fabien Causeur had 10 points each to lead Baskonia.
Real Madrid got revenge for their loss back in Moscow in the earlier rounds with a convincing 104-81 win over Khimki in the Spanish capital.
Rudy Fernandez tallied 23 points as five Madrid players reached double-figure scoring numbers. They improved to 5-2 and have sole possession of top spot in a tightly contested Group A while Khimki drop to 4-3 and go into second place along with Fenerbahce and Panathinaikos who won 71-69 on the road against Mapooro Cantu.
Michael Bramos led the Greens with 21 points. Cantu drop to 2-5 in the group and share fifth place with Union Olimpija.
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