Unicaja, CSKA Moscow and Panathinaikos win – Euroleague Group B second week Review – Part 1
During the second week of the Turkish Airlines Euro league, three games took place in Group B. Here is a brief review of the games:
Unicaja 85 - Zalgiris Kaunas 78
Unicaja earned its first Group B win in its second game with an 85-78 overtime victory over Zalgiris Kaunas on October 25, 2011 at the Martin Carpena Arena in Malaga, Spain. It was second consecutive loss for Kaunas.
Joel Freeland recorded a double-double in the victory with a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. Freeland scored seven of his points in overtime and ended on 10 for 17 shooting from two-point range. Kristaps Valters played a solid
game with 20 points on 4 for 9 shooting from three-point range, dished out seven assists and stole the ball twice. Tremmell Darden had 10 points and six rebounds for Unicaja.
Sonny Weems led Zalgiris with 21 points and eight rebounds. Marko Popovic chipped in 18 points on a perfect 8 for 8 shooting from free throw line and pulled down six rebounds while Mantas Kalnietis posted 11 points in the loss.
The turnovers remained the main problem for Zalgiris as they committed 20 turnovers compared to just nine by Unicaja.
Unicaja dominated early and chalked out a 22-19 lead by the end of the first quarter, during which eight different played scored for them. Kaunas started with good pace in the second quarter and outscored Unicaja 20-8, converting
the opening quarter’s deficit into a 39-30 lead at halftime.
The momentum shifted radically in the third period as Zalgiris eased up and started to miss shots, which allowed Unicaja to pull within 49-52, heading into the fourth.
Kaunas recovered from the third quarter slump immediately and fended off the Unicaja challenge till the stroke of the last minute of regular time, when they were leading by 67-65. However, Berni Rodriguez responded with a pair
of free throws and ended the regulation time with scores at 67.
Marko Popovic hit a pair of free throws early in the overtime to put Zalgiris ahead by 69-67. Unicaja however answered back with a 9-0 run, which put the game out of the reach of Kaunas.
CSKA Moscow 94 - Brose Baskets 74
CSKA Moscow beat Brose Baskets with a huge margin of 94-74 on October 26, 2011 at the Universal Sports Hall for their second consecutive victory of Euro league 2011-12.
Nenad Krstic punctuated a game-high 19 points on a perfect 9 for 9 shooting from two-point range, grabbed four rebounds and stole the ball twice. Andrey Vorontsevich added 13 points, five rebounds and three assists while Andrei
Kirilenko, the Utah Jazz star, contributed 12 points and six assists for the Russians.
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