Laboral Kutxa piled more domestic woe on Barcelona by beating them 76-72 at home, dropping the Catalan side down to fourth.
Andres Nocioni scored in the post with 20 seconds remaining and got a vital defensive stop on Juan Carlos Navarro as Vitoria moved up tenth in the Liga Endesa table.
The teams above Barcelona unfortunately for them all managed to win over the weekend with Real Madrid 75-68 winners at Zaragoza. Rudy Fernandez drained five three-pointers, on his way to a game-high 21 points for last season’s Euroleague runners-up.
Valencia needed a Bilbao turnover with 2.9 seconds to go to secure an 83-80 win in the game of the week. Sam Van Rossom hit 16 points for the winners.
And Gran Canaria expectedly got their 83-78 win at Fuenlabrada, but they were made to work hard for the victory. It needed a strong fourth quarter performance to put the hosts away as Brad Newley’s 21 points sealed the deal and kept Gran Canaria third.
Elsewhere in the Liga Endesa, Unicaja Malaga eased to a 99-78 over Bruixa d’Or as they kept the pressure on Barcelona in fifth place.
Malaga though had to shake off a subpar first quarter to get the job done against the league’s basement side. Ryan Toolson hit five three-pointers as he led the scoring with 21 points.
Alexander Hernandez led Bruixa d’Or with 16 as five players scored in double figures, despite defeat.
Joventut Badalona grabbed a deserved 82-76 away win at Murcia as they improve to 7-7 for the season.
John Shurna again steadied the ship for the Catalan side as his 19 points led the former Eurocup champions Badalona to the win.
Gipuzkoa were also winners on the road as they powered to an 83-64 win at Valladolid. Jason Robinson led the victors with 16.
Tenerife landed a much needed home win as they steamrollered Cajasol Seville 75-59, and Estudiantes were impressive in a rare 97-85 win away at Monbus.
