Turkish Airlines EuroLeague: CSKA goes top

Turkish Airlines EuroLeague

Four games concluded Round 12 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague regular season on Friday. The big game of the day saw CSKA Moscow take out Maccabi Tel Aviv, leaving the Israeli club looking for its first win in Moscow since 2004. Elsewhere, Baskonia took a one-point win over Anadolu Efes and Panathinaikos Athens defeated Milan in the Greek capital. Finally, Crvena Zvezda was too strong for Valencia.

CSKA Moscow vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv, 101-86

European giants clashed in Moscow as two former Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champions clashed head to head. CSKA Moscow roared to the top of the standings with a complete performance. Tel Aviv has been good this season after an awful 2016/2017, but could not live with The Army Men here. The result gives CSKA sole possession of first place (10-2), while Maccabi Tel Aviv drops to 7-5 in fifth. A 28-14 second quarter allowed the hosts a 49-34 halftime lead and they rarely looked back, easing to victory through the second half. That second half was a barnstormer, especially a hectic 29-29 fourth act.

Nando De Colo drained 26 points and provided 6 assists in the win, while Cory Higgins added 17 points. Sergio Rodriguez provided a double-double of 15 points and 11 assists, followed by Seven Antonov and Kyle Hines with 14 points apiece.

Norris Cole was the threat for Tel Aviv with 24 points and 7 scoring passes. DeShaun Thomas and drained 14 points and Jake Cohen secured 12 points.

Anadolu Efes Istanbul vs. Baskonia Vitoria, 81-82

Anadolu Efes needs to collect wins, but the Turkish club was narrowly edged by Baskonia in a one-point game. The result leaves Efes in a share for the worst record in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague at 3-9, while Baskonia moves to 6-6 in mid-table. With 5 minutes left on the clock, the visitors found them 9 points adrift of Anadolu Efes. However, a late Baskonia rally was capped when Vincent Poirier drew a foul in the closing seconds and drained both his attempts from the charity strip. The hosts had the ball in the final play, but it was turned over by a victorious Baskonia.

Tornhike Shengelia topped the win with 17 points, while Vincent Poirier and Matt Janning added 16 points apiece. Poirer doubled up with 12 rebounds.

Errick McCollum secured a game high 21 points for Efes, followed by Bryant Dunston with 14 points.

Panathinaikos Athens vs. Milan, 80-72

After a loss last week, Panathinaikos bounced back home with a victory over a Milan team in desperate need of putting a run together. The victory boosts Panathinaikos’ position to 8-4 in a joint third place with Fenerbahce, while Milan is bottom of the EuroLeague standings on 3-9. The visitors got off to a flying start and led 14-23 after 10 minutes. However, Panathinaikos took back the momentum and by the end of the third act had carved a 64-57 lead from 50 points in the middle frames. From there The Greens eased down the straight to success.

KC Rivers offered 20 points in the win, while Matt Lojeski managed 14 points.

Vladimir Micov topped the losing effort with 13 points.

Valencia vs. Crvena Zvezda Belgrade, 82-86

Crvena Zvezda has put some form together in recent weeks and now defeated Spanish champs Valencia on the road. The recent upturn in form has allowed the Serbian giant to move to 5-7 and back into contention. Valencia is having a poor season on the continent and now sits at 3-9 with the joint worst record in the league.

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