With the bulk of EuroLeague round 28 action being placed on Thursday night, Mike James became officially the leading scorer in the history of the league surpassing EuroLeague and Olympiacos legend Vassilis Spanoulis. James amped up his total to 4,464 points after scoring 20 in AS Monaco’s comfortable victory over Crvena Zvezda.
Aside from Mike James’ historic milestone, Fenerbahce stunned Real Madrid succumbing the “Whites” to its second straight defeat and second at home, while Maccabi Tel Aviv and FC Barcelona secured crucial wins on Thursday night.
AS Monaco (18-10) vs Crvena Zvezda (10-18) 98-80
Key to victory: After three close-fought quarters, AS Monaco broke open the game thanks to a closing 12-3 run in the last 4 minutes of the 3rd period. With the Mike James record out of the way, the Monegasques finished the job in the 4th quarter by outscoring the Serbians 29-20. Mike James finished with 20 points in the historic game.
Top Performers: This game was all Mike James as the Oregon-born guard made history by becoming the all-time Euroleague leading scorer. James finished with 20 points and surpassed Vassilis Spanoulis. The AS Monaco guard to do so in 271 games, compared to 358 for the former Olympiacos Piraeus and Panathinaikos Athens legend. That said, Mike James was the top performer of the night for the winners who improved to 18-10 and secured their 7th consecutive victory in the EuroLeague.
Real Madrid (22-6) vs Fenerbahce (17-11) 79-89
Key to victory: Fenerbahce dominated the rebounding battle, scoring 16 second-chance points out of 17 offensive rebounds. At the same time, the visitors had 8/28 three-pointers, while the hosts only 2/13.
Top Performers: Nigel Hayes-Davies led Fenerbahce efforts with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Calathes had a complete night with 12 points, six assists and six rebounds. Scotty Wilbekin added 12 points, while Jonathan Motley and Tarik Biberovic contributed 10 each. For Real Madrid, Sergio Llull led with 17 points.
Maccabi Tel Aviv (15-13) vs Zalgiris Kaunas (11-17) 83-76
Key to victory: Maccabi Tel Aviv kept its playoff hopes alive by making a comeback from down 8 (62-70) in the final quarter to beat Zalgiris Kaunas in Belgrade. A turnover from Arnas Butkevicius was crucial moment of lapse for Zalgiris with 35 seconds remaining on the game
Top Performers: Wade Baldwin led Maccabi’s effort with 16 points, while Tamir Blatt added 11. Keenan Evans scored 18 points with 4 assists, but his efforts were not enough to lead Zalgiris to the win.
Anadolu Efes (12-16) vs Bayern Munich (12-16) 109-86
Key to victory:After a balanced first half with the teams fighting a close-fought battle, Anadolu Efes exploded offensively in the second half outscoring the German giants 56-37. Efes had 35 points in the third period and won the quarter by 19 points.
Top Performers: Shane Larkin was unstoppable with 28 points and a PIR of 33 followed by Will Clyburn who added 21. Carsen Edwards led Bayern Munich with 19 points.
Valencia Basket (13-15) vs FC Barcelona (19-9) 79-89
Key to victory: In a demanding clash, the contest went back and forth and Barcelona led 57-59 after 30 minutes. Barcelona’s breakaway grew to 60-66 in the fourth and then 63-76 as the Catalans kept the second place under wraps.
Top Performers: Jan Vesely was perfect shooting for the night, going 10-for-10 on two pointers and 1-for-1 on free throws en route to 21 points. Nikola Kalinic and Nicolas Laprovittola both scored 13 points and Jabari Parker chipped in 12 points. emi Ojeleye scored 19 points in the loss for Valencia.
