Barcelona bounced back from the surprise loss to Nanterre by beating CSKA Moscow 79-70 in the Catalan capital.
Juan Carlos Navarro led Barca with 20 points as his side moves to 2-2 in Group A, while CSKA drop to the same record following this loss.
We were nervous early and they took advantage of it, getting fast break points,” Barcelona coach Xavi Pascual explained.
“We improved our defence in the second half, controlled the boards, picked up less turnovers and managed to overcome our first-half deficit. We managed to get over a difficult moment in the third quarter and controlled the game in the fourth quarter. We are getting together as a team, some players are finding their way. Navarro is our leader, just as Teodosic in CSKA or Bogdanovic and Kleiza in Fenerbahce Ulker.”
Vladimir Micov led CSKA with 14 points.
Fenerbahce remains the team to beat in Group A after they beat Partizan 88-78 away in Belgrade.
For the first two quarters, it was all Partizan, as they built up a 30-19 advantage, going on to lead 38-30 at the half. Fenerbahce though hit back in the third period as Bojan Bogdanovic hit 13 of his game-high 26 points in that quarter to help his side to a 60-57 lead going into the fourth.
A 14-4 run in the fourth sealed the deal as Fenerbahce went to 4-0 in the group.
Joffrey Lauvergne led Partizan with 20.
Nanterre continues its good run in the Euroleague as they thrashed Budivielnik Kiev 80-61 at home.
A 17-3 first quarter burst was enough for the French side as they move on to 2-2 in Group A, while dropping Kiev to 1-3.
Will Daniels led the hosts with 14 points.
Group C saw Olympiacos remain undefeated as they beat Montepaschi Siena 70-62 at the Nelson Mendela Forum in Florence.
Despite Siena’s best efforts, they couldn’t come back from a 20-11 first quarter deficit, as they remain winless at 0-4.
A well-balanced scoring attack from the Greek side is highlighted by the fact that not one Olympiacos player hit double digit scoring numbers. Four players, Vassilis Spanoulis, Mirza Begic, Bryant Dunston and Matthew Lojeski all led the Euroleague champions with nine points.
Taylor Rochestie and Kim English led Siena with 13 points each.
Bayern Munich are not too far behind Olympiacos in second place as they comfortably dispatched Unicaja Malaga 82-68 in Germany.
Bayern improve to 3-1 in Group C as Malcolm Delaney led the winners with 19 points, 14 of them though coming from the foul line.
Jayson Granger led Malaga with 14.
Free throws from Great Britain international Pops Mensah-Bonsu with 18 seconds left ensured Galatasaray a 78-75 win over Stelmet Zielona Gora in Poland.
Erwin Dudley led the Turkish side with a career high 21 points as they improve to 2-2 while Stelmet Zielona Gora drop to 1-3.
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