FC Barcelona and Virtus Bologna entered Palau Blaugrana with the expectation to fight hard for the advantage between two clubs with the same record. The Catalans not only won but dominated the game to earn an important victory and take a small advantage over Bologna.
Zalgiris made history in the win over Anadolu Efes on Wednesday as the Lithuanians got another victory under coach Andrea Trinchieri. In Monaco, Mikes James achieved another milestone and led the Monegasques over Partizan.
FC Barcelona (16-8) vs Virtus Bologna (15-9) 84-57
Key to victory: After a battling 1st quarter (20-17), FC Barcelona was based his offensive scheme on Willy Hernangomez and Nicolas Laprovittola to put the game away. A 7-0 run which Laprovittola capped with another three-pointer broke the game open, 48-29, right after the break as FC Barcelona never looked back an got an important victory.
Top Performers: Willy Hernangomez led the winners with 17 points. Nico Laprovittola added 16 on the night of his 34th birthday, Dario Brizuela and Jabari Parker each had 11, while Jan Vesely pulled down 13 rebounds for Barca.
AS Monaco Basket (14-10) vs Partizan Belgrade (12-12) 85-70
Key to victory: Mike James sank a dauntless three-pointer from deep downtown in Punter’s face to give the home team a 72-61 lead during the third quarter. The visitors tried hard to catch up in the home stretch but Monaco held firm to stretch Partizan’s poor form in the road.
Top Performers: James paced Monaco with 19 points to tie LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne guard Nando De Colo’s career total of 4,383 and moved in behind retired Greek legend Vassilis Spanoulis who tops the chart with 4,455. Mam Jaiteh racked up 14 points and 6 rebounds. Kevin Punter netted 28 points in his best performance of the season for Partizan.
Zalgiris Kaunas (9-15) vs Anadolu Efes (9-15) 96-70
Key to victory:There was no stopping Zalgiris in the early stages as the hosts netted 34 points in the first quarter, which is a club record for an opening period in the EuroLeague. Efes, meanwhile, scored just 14, and the Turkish club trailed 34-14 after 10 minutes.
Top Performers: Laurynas Birutis led the way for Zalgiris with a team-high 18 points, while Rolands Smits, Brady Manek and Edgaras Ulanovas had 13 points apiece. Efes’s Will Clyburn was the game’s leading scorer with 19 points
