Laboral Kutxa secured an important road win by beating Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 70-65, and improving to 3-3 in Group D of the Euroleague.

In an intensely competitive contest, Laboral hung on despite a surge from the Israelis who are now 4-2 in the group with both defeats coming against the Spaniards.

“I am very pleased with my players and that we managed to beat a good team on a tough court,” Laboral Kutxa coach Sergio Scariolo said.

“It was a very tactical game and we played well on both ends of the court. We played as a team and we controlled the rebounds. This gives us a big push going ahead.”

Tibor Pleiss led the victors with 16 points and seven rebounds with David Jelinek adding 14. Milko Bjelica had an 11-point, 10 rebound double-double in the win also.

Shawn James had 16 for Maccabi.

Elsewhere in Group D, Panathinaikos returned to the OAKA after a two-game ban with an 80-72 win over Lietuvos Rytas as they improved their record to 3-3.

James Gist was unstoppable as he posted a career-hjgh 24 points along with six rebounds and five steals in the win.  Jonas Maciulis added 16 for the Greens as they went on a 16-0 run covering the third and fourth quarters to record the win.

“This is definitely a great win that can help us to encourage ourselves and find our basketball,” Gist said afterwards.

“We played very bad in the first half, since we were lacking energy and passion, but fortunately we came up big in the second half and the good thing is that our fans were also involved. Now we have to stay focused and keep working.”

Stevan Jelovac led the Lithuanians with 19 points, which he scored in just 14 minutes on court. His side now faces an uphill struggle to advance to the Top 16 with a 1-5 record thus far.

Stelmet Zielona Gora’s impressive Euroleague showings continue as they defeated a talented Bayern Munich at the Audi Dome 78-71.

The win improves the Polish champions admittedly slim chances of progressing to the Top 16 at 2-4 in Group C but this win against a strong Bayern side surely ends the chatter that they don’t belong in this competition.

Vladimir Dragicevic notched up 19 points to lead the winners while Nihad Djedovic led Bayern with 17 as they fall to 3-3.

Galatasaray edged Montepaschi Siena 54-52 in Istanbul thanks to Pops Mensah-Bonsu’s 16 points and 16 rebounds.

The Turkish side improves to 4-2 in Group C in a defensive-minded contest that saw the Italian champions, who drop to 1-5 shoot just 33 percent from the field. Daniel Hackett had 16 points for them.

In Group A, Barcelona left Belgrade with a convincing 82-64 win over Partizan.

The Serbians seemed to struggle without guard Leo Westermann as Barca shrugged off a 17-11 first quarter deficit to seal the win from the second period onwards. A 14-2 run mid-way through the second.

Alejandro Abrines led the Liga Endesa giants with 19 points they improve to 4-2 while Partizan drop to 1-5.  Bogdan Bogdanovic netted a game-high 24 for the hosts.

CSKA Moscow also recovered from a slow start to defeat Nanterre 72-60 in the Russian capital.

Trailing 14-9 after one, CSKA overpowered their French counterparts in the second to race away to victory. Jeremy Pargo led CSKA with 14 points as they go to 4-2 in Group A.

Deshaun Thomas led Nanterre with 18 points as they drop to 2-4.