CSKA, Tau, Siena, Cibona Still Undefeated
Barcelona blasted on road, Madrid lose at home in Euroleague Week 3
Nov 7, 2008
CSKA Still Undefeated Atop Group D
The defending champion CSKA Moscow earned a hard-fought 58-54 victory on the road against Real Madrid to move to 3-0 as sole leader of Group D. Zoran Planicic scored 13 points including two important fourth quarter three-pointers while Ramunas Siskauskas added 11 points as CSKA won despite J.R. Holden being out with a broken pinkie. Real Madrid has surprisingly dropped to 1-2 despite 10 points from both Felipe Reyes and Alex Mumbru.
Panionios sprung the upset 78-69 at Efes Pilsen as Lonny Baxter scored 18 points and Ioannis Kalampokis hit for 17. Panionios went to 1-2 by holding Efes Pilsen to just nine points in the third quarter. Efes Pilsen dropped to 2-1. Also 2-1 is Partizan Belgrade, which gave up nine fourth quarter points in winning 81-76 at home against winless AJ Milano. Novica Velickovic had 14 points and Stephane Lasme collected 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead six players in double figures for Belgrade.
Perfect Siena Drop Barcelona in Top Group B Showdown
Henry Domercant's 19 points paced four players in double figures in a 71-61 victory at home over Barcelona to take over sole possession of first place in Group B with a 3-0 record. Barcelona dropped to 2-1 after the group's top showdown despite 14 points and 10 rebounds by Ersan Ilyasova.
Also 2-1 in the group is Asseco Prokom, which beat Zalgiris 65-60 at home thanks to 19 points from Daniel Ewing and 14 points by David Logan. Zalgiris dropped to 0-3 despite 15 points and 11 rebounds by Jonas Maciulis. Panathinaikos meanwhile bounced back from its embarrassing loss against Barcelona to improve to 2-1 with an 80-70 victory at Sluc Nancy. Mike Batiste led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Dimitris Diamantidis added 14 points and nine rebounds.
Cibona Surprises Olympiacos to Remain Undefeated in Group A
Cibona remained the early surprise team of the Euroleague by improving to 3-0 with an 85-76 victory at home over Olympiacos. Earl Calloway scored 19 points while both Rawle Marshall and Nikola Prkacin had 13 points in handing Olympiacos its first loss to fall to 2-1. Lynn Greer and Ioannis Bourousis both scored 14 points while Josh Childress struggled to eight points, five rebounds and three assists.
Maccabi Tel Aviv nearly was surprised at home but held on to beat Le Mans 82-80 in overtime. Veteran Marcus Brown tied the game with a three-pointer late in regulation and Carlos Arroyo gave Maccabi the win on a jumper with 1.1 seconds. Arroyo had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists while D'Or scored 20 points. David Bluthenthal scored 23 points against his former team as Le Mans dropped to 0-3. Both Air Avellino and Unicaja are 1-2 after Chris Warren scored 24 points in Avellino's 72-70 win at home.
Rakocevic Leads Tau to 3-0 in Group C
In Group C, meanwhile, Tau Ceramica manhandled Alba Berlin 106-65 as Igor Rakocevic's 27 points paced six players in double figures. The Spanish side Tau gave up 24 points in the first quarter but only 41 points the rest of the way. Berlin dropped to 1-2.
The other Spanish team in the group continues to struggle as DKV Joventut fell to 1-2 after losing at home 70-67 to Fenerbahce. Emir Preldzic tallied 17 points for Fenerbahce, who improved to 2-1. Sani Becirovic meanwhile had a great all around game with 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Lottomatica Roma's 78-67 victory at Union Olimpija to improve to 2-1. Brandon Jennings scored 14 points in 18 minutes for Roma. Olimpija remained winless at 0-3 despite 16 points and eight rebounds by Mirza Begic.
