Caja Laboral, Olympiacos and SLUC Nancy win – Euroleague Group A second week Review – Part 2
Olympiacos 81 - Fenerbahce Ulker 74
Fenerbahce Ulker’s Thabo Sefolosha recorded a double-double in the loss with a game-high 12 rebounds and 17 points. James Gist scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds while Roko Ukic totalled 13 points for Fenerbahce.
Olympiacos got off to a better start and held a 12-5 lead with two minutes to go in the first quarter. Ulker however reorganized their offense and reeled off a 9-0 run, taking a 14-12 lead into the second. Fenerbahce continued
to improve their lead in the second quarter, outscoring the hosts 23-14, and stretched their lead to 11-point, 37-26, at halftime.
In the third quarter, the Reds stayed together as a team and imposed a tough defence against Ulker to trim their halftime deficit to just one, 54-53. Olympiacos and Fenerbahce fought hard until the second last minute of the game
when the Reds went on a 6-0 run to take a 73-69 advantage. The surge took the steam out of the Turkish side and Olympiacos rounded off a hard fought win.
SLUC Nancy 87 - Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 73
On October 27 at the Palais Des Sports Jean Weille, SLUC Nancy displayed an outstanding team effort and routed Bizkaia Bilbao Basket 87-73 for their first victory of this season.
Nicolas Batum played one of best games of his Euroleague career and chipped in 26 points in the victory, including 11 in the crucial fourth quarter. Batum also dished out eight assists, grabbed seven rebounds and stole the ball
twice. Adrien Moerman had 15 points, five rebounds and two steals while Akin Akingbala finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the French champions. Jamal Shuler posted 10 points in the victory.
Marko Banic led Bizkaia with 16 points and five rebounds while Kosts Vasiliadis collected 12 points. Aaron Jackson added 11 points, six rebounds and four assists in Bilbao’s first defeat in Group A.
A major reason of the defeat for Bizkaia was the 21 turnovers they committed while Nancy committed just 11. Bilbao Basket battled hard early in the first quarter and were able carve out a 18-12 lead. However, Nancy scored the last
five points of the opening period and made it a one point contest after 10 minutes. The one point deficit was shaved off by the French club in the next 10 minutes as the teams went into the break at 38 apiece.
Nancy opened the third quarter on a 5-0 run to take a 43-38 lead early but Bizkaia continued to bounce back and levelled the score with two minutes remaining. Batum hit a pair of free throws and gave Nancy a two-point lead, which
was countered by Aaron Jackson, who answered with a free throw to keep Bilbao Basket within one. A dunk by Batum in the following possession however restored a 61-58 Nancy edge.
SLUC maintained their slender deficit midway through the fourth period and were leading by 70-66 lead. Raul Lopez sank a two-pointer at that point and it was followed by a Marko Banic free throw which brought Bizkaia at 70-69.
With the opposition in striking range, Nancy erupted with a 17-4 spurt and closed out the game in a dominant fashion.
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