Barcelona emphatically ended Fenerbahce’s unbeaten start to the Euroleague by winning 94-81 at the Palau Blaugrana.
Bostjan Nachbar led the Catalan side with 23 points and 12 rebounds as Barca improve to 5-2 in Group A and also move into the Top 16 with this win.
“Yes, I agree that it was my best game in a Barcelona jersey,” Nachbar said afterwards. “The most important thing is that this win could allow us to finish first or second.
“Psychologically speaking, it means a lot because beating a direct opponent at home is always important. I am sure that the first quarter determined the game rhythm, but I am also happy with the way we reacted when they rallied within four points. We managed to handle the pressure.”
The most impressive statistic was Barcelona holding Fenerbahce’s leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic to only 8 points off 2/9 shooting. Bo McCalebb had 22 for the Turkish side, who are now at 6-1.
“Our bad start cost us a lot. We cannot allow 35 points in one quarter,” McCalebb said.
Kyle Hines stepped up to hand CSKA Moscow a spot in the Top 16 as they beat Budivielnik Kiev 82-74 in the Ukrainian capital.
CSKA now move level with Barcelona on 5-2 records in Group A while Kiev drop further to 1-6 and are all but out.
Hines led the Russian champions with 18 points as he fueled an 8-0 run an then a 12-2 push in the fourth quarter as they took control to get the win.
Blake Aherne had 21 points on 4/4 shooting from three-point land.
“I am proud of my players’ efforts and confidence, they showed good energy on the clutch; that’s very important,” said CSKA Moscow coach Ettore Messina.
Ten three-pointers gave Laboral Kutxa a 79-77 success over Panathinaikos in Group D, but they let slip a 21-point lead and nearly lost the game.
They were thankful though that Dimitris Diamantidis’ potential game-winning three rimmed out.
Milko Bjelica had 17 points to lead the hosts.
Justin Dentmon scored with 3.9 seconds remaining as Zalgiris edged EA7 Milano 73-71 in Kaunas.
The Lithuanian champions move to 3-4 in Group B as they remain in the hunt for a spot in the Top 16. Dentmon had 15 points to lead Zalgiris.
Keith Langford was sublime with 29 points for the Italians, but it wasn’t enough as they drop to 4-3.
Anadolu Efes were comfortable 88-65 victors over Strasbourg in the other game in Group B.
Scotty Hopson led the Turkish side with 23 points as they improve to 4-3 and can qualify next week if they beat Brose Baskets.
In Group C, Montepaschi Siena kept its slim chances of advancing to the Top 16 alive as they beat Bayern Munich 71-62 to go 2-5 in Florence.
Daniel Hackett led the Italian champions with a double-double of 15 points and 10 assists as a 13-1 run in the second period gave Siena breathing space over the Germans and they never looked back.
