By the close of play on Thursday night, five games of Round 5 had been completed, giving us a great overview of the Top 16 so far. The three Friday night games promise to be crackers but they’ll have to go some to live up to the excitement, drama and tension that the game on Wednesday and the games on Thursday managed to deliver to Basketball Betting fans.
Wednesday the 4th of March
There was just the one game played on Wednesday and it was in Group E, getting the week off to an excellent start.
Alba Berlin 80 – Zalgiris Kaunas 72
The German side faced a late onslaught from Kaunas but in the end they held on, allowing them to grab the fifth place spot in Group E, moving them on to a 4-5 record. The loss moved Kaunas on to a 3-6 record and the home side has Reggie Redding to thank for a large part of the win as he managed to grab a career high total of 27 points. Redding also served up 7 rebounds and 5 assists in the game which the home team led by 5 at half-time.
Marko Banic provided 13 points, Leon Radosevic grabbed 12 points and Alex Renfroe picked up 10 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Arturas Milaknis was the key player for Kaunas with 18 points while Siim-Sander Vene and Darius Dongalia both offered 12 points. James Anderson also broke into double figures, grabbing 10 points in the defeat.
- Q1: 20-17
- Q2: 42-37
- Q3: 62-51
- Q4: 80-72
Thursday the 5th of March
There were a total of four games on Thursday evening, spread out evenly across the two groups.
Group E
Panathinaikos Athens 77– FC Barcelona 81
Barcelona moved into the lead just before half-time and this was a position they held on to for the rest of the game. The 77-81 win moves Barcelona on to a 6-3 record, which sees them tied with Maccabi Electra in second place. The hosts dropped to a 5-4 record, and they now sit in fourth place in Group E. The top player for Barcelona was Justin Doellman who managed to grab 21 points and 7 rebounds for the away side but he wasn’t alone in performing strongly. Juan Carlos Navarro notched 17 points while Tibor Pleiss got off to a flying start, grabbing 15 points in 15 minutes before being fouled out of the game.
For Panathinaikos, Esteban Batista provided 16 points and 9 rebounds; James Gist served up 14 points while Dimitris Diamantidis provided 12 points and 6 assists in the game for the losing side.
- Q1: 21-16
- Q2: 32-42
- Q3: 52-57
- Q4: 77-81
Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 89 – Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv 76
Boban Marjanovic was in excellent form and with 19 points and a career high total of 17 rebounds; he can be delighted with the role he played in keeping Belgrade in the hunt for a play-off place. This was a come-from behind win that put the home team on to a 2-7 record while the reigning champions dropped down to a 6-3 record. The biggest factor in the win was the 20 unanswered points that Zvezda managed to pick up in the fourth quarter, helping them to push to an 83-68 lead late on in the game. Marcus Williams provided 17 points, with 9 in the final quarter and Charles Jenkins offered up 16 points. Nikola Kalinic also helped, offering up 14 points in the home win.
Devin Smith provided 15 points for the losers; Jeremy Pargo provided 14 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds while Alex Tyus offered up 12 points and 8 rebounds. Maccabi were also boosted by Nate Linhart, who offered up 12 points in the loss but it wasn’t enough to turn the game around for the reigning champions who suffered a bad night at the office.
- Q1: 18-20
- Q2: 38-34
- Q3: 54-59
- Q4: 89-76
Group F
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul 92 – Nizhny Novgorod 79
This was the 6th game that Fenerbahce won in a row and it moved the home team on a to 7-2 record. The defeat for Nizhny saw them slip to a 2-7 record and they must have serious concerns about their form and their path in the rest of the Top 16. Nemanja Bjelica was on excellent form, delivering 16 points for the winners while both Jan Vesely and Ricky Hickman provided 13 points for the Turkish giants. Andrew Goudelock alaso managed to break into double figures with 10 points.
Trey Thompkins had a great night for the losing team, offering 22 points and 11 rebounds while both Rihards Kuksicks and Taylor Rochestie provided 13 points apiece. Gal Mekel may have lost on his debut but he did manage to grab 12 points. With a 50-41 lead at half-time, the home side were always in control even if Nizhny had their moments but with Vesely and Bjelica leading a late 13-2 run for the home side, this was a comfortable win.
- Q1: 18-17
- Q2: 50-34
- Q3: 62-55
- Q4: 92-79
Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 74 – CSKA Moscow 81
The Russian side managed to return to form after a home loss and their big away win in Spain saw them move to a 7-2 record in Group F. The defeat moved Laboral to a 4-5 record and it broke their three game winning run at home.
Vitaly Fridzon was the key man for the winners, offering up 13 points while both Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic provided 11 points. Another major factor in the away win was the 13 rebounds served up by Andrey Vorontsevich. Laboral had a real leader for points as Darius Adams grabbed 31 points but it was nowhere near enough to lead his team to victory. The next best scoring Laboral player was Fernando San Emeterio who offered 14 points.
- Q1: 27-15
- Q2: 42-36
- Q3: 55-56
- Q4: 74-81
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