Unicaja Malaga came from behind to beat Panathinaikos 66-60 thanks to two clutch three-pointers from Marcus Williams.
The American drained two triples in the last two minutes as the hosts finished on an 11-0 run to get what looked like an unlikely victory against a well-organised Greek side.
Panathinaikos led 53-44 going into the deciding fourth period, but Malaga rallied and reduced their opponents to just seven points in the last quarter, while scoring 22 of their own.
“We want to carry on playing the way we did today because we managed to beat a great team and managed to get the tiebreak advantage, too,” Williams, who led the winners with 22 points said.
“I don’t want to focus on my individual performance. I am happy with our good work as a team. We had a great game and have to carry on playing this way, as a team.”
Jonas Maciulis led the visitors with 15 points, as Panathinaikos drop to 6-4. The Greens have also lost the head-to-head between the two teams should it come down to that at the end of what is a tightly contested Group E. Malaga are a spot below on 5-5.
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KC Rivers hit all four of his three-point attempts as Khimki defeated Montepaschi Siena 78-71 in Moscow.
Rivers hit 19 points with Paul Davis supporting with 18 points and seven rebounds as the Russian side improved to 6-4 with Siena at 7-3. Bobby Brown led the Italian champions with 17 points but was made to work hard for his points.
“Everyone knew how important this game was for us. I am happy that we managed to win, besides one point more than we lost in Siena. This is a double win,” said Khimki coach Rimas Kurtinaitis.
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Caja Laboral never trailed in Istanbul as they beat Besiktas 83-73 and ended a five-game losing streak at the same time.
This loss eliminates Besiktas at 0-10, while the Spaniards are even at 5-5. Andres Nocioni led the way with 22 points for the winners.
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