Euroleague 2014/15 Round One Concludes In Fine Style

The remaining games of Round One in the 2014/15 Eurloeague concluded on the 17^th of October, and there were some big games with big teams involved. The basketball world saw some tight finishes and great displays, all of which has kicked off a great deal of hope that this campaign is going to be one of the best Euroleague campaigns ever.

Nizhny Novgorod v Dinamo Banco Di Sardegna Sassari 88-86

When you play your first Euroleague game, you desperately want to win to get a victory behind you, and this is what Nizhny Novogorod achieved, even though it was extremely close. Jerome Dyson had an opportunity to take the game into overtime but with seconds left on the clock, he missed out on a layup and the home side was able to celebrate a massive win.

When you think that Nizhny were 19 points behind at one point, Sassari getting off to a flying start, it was a monumental occasion for the home team. Tarence Kinsey grabbed 17 points and 7 rebounds while Artsiom Parakhouski picked up 16 points and 8 rebounds. David Logan and Jerome Dyson both grabbed 17 points each for Sassari.

Real Madrid v Zalgiris Kaunas 80-71

This was a game between two major teams in the Euroleaghue and it was the defeated finalists from last season who got off to the best possible start. Felipe Reyes delivered 11 points for Real and Gustavo Ayon served up 10 points. The top scorers in the game were on the Kaunus side, with James Anderson reaching 19 points and Arturas Milaknis picking up 13 points, but they were the losing team as Madrid always had enough about them to stay just in the lead from the second quarter.

Alba Berlin v CSKA Moscow 68-84

This was a convincing win for the Russian side, giving new coach Dimitris Itoudis a great win on the road to get off the mark in the 2014/15 Euroleague campaign. Six different players got into double figures with respect to points scores for Moscow, with Sasha Kaun leading the way with 16 points and 9 rebounds. He just edged out Milos Teodosic and Sonny Weems, who both grabbed 15 points each, while Andrey Vorontsevich, Aaron Jackson and Vitaly Fridzon all grabbed 10 points in the match. Reggie Redding delivered 11 points for Alba but the Berlin side will be pleased that both Niels Giffey and Jamel McLean both picked up 9 points on their Euroleague debut.

Panathinaikos Athens v Pgeturow Zgorzelec 84-77

PGE Turow Zgorzelec may have been making their Euroleague debut but they pushed Athens all the way with the Greek side needing some big performances from their big players. They were boosted by AJ Slaughter and Nikos Pappas both grabbing 16 points while Vlantimir Giankovits helped himself to 13 points in the win. The Panathinaikos cause was also helped by Janis Blums picking up 11 points, Esteban Batistia grabbing 10 points and although Dimitris Diamantidis only played 15 points, his 2 points and 4 assists were greatly cheered. This small outing ensured he is now splitting a three-way tie with respect to the highest number of Euroleague games played, 226, and his next game will see him holding the record in his own right. Mardy Collins, with 23 points, 5 assists and 9 rebounds was the big player on the night for Pgeturow but Damian Kulig also played his part with 17 points.

Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul v EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 77-74

Even though the home side got off to an excellent start, the lead of the game changed quite a few times in the second half, before the Turkish team managed to conclude the win near the end of the game. With 3 minutes to go, Milan were in the lead by a point but triples from Andrew Goudelock and Ricky Hickman made all the difference. Goudelock grabbed 19 points in total, Nemanja Bjelica delivered 11 points and Hickman offered up 9. The Milan cause was boosted by Alessandro Gentile offering up 15 points while Samardo Samuels and Nicolo Melli both offered up 12 points.

FC Barcelona v Bayern Munich 83-81

This is a game that is always going to grab attention when it comes to European sport and it was a game that was in the balance until the dying seconds. Justin Doellman grabbed 16 points for Barca, and he was assisted by Brad Oleson and Ante Tomic who both picked up 15 points. Juan Carlos Navarro has 12 points and 8 assists for the winners. The top scorer in the game was Nihad Djedovic, playing against his former side, with 19 points and John Bryant also played his part for Bayern, with 16 points, which wasn’t quite enough to turn the game for the visitors.