Real Madrid bounced back from a 3-game losing streak to become the first team to secure a spot in the EuroLeague postseason. Virtus Bologna succumbed to its 5th loss in the last 7 games and were not able to recover from a disappointing collapse vs. Olympiacos last week.
In other contests, Bayern Munich scraped an important victory over Zalgiris, while ASVEL stunned Efes that suffered the 13th defeat in 15 road games.
Virtus Bologna (17-12) vs Real Madrid (23-6) 74-89
Key to victory: Real Madrid played an all-around team game and took a 44-31 lead at the intermission. Virtus Bologna tried to make the comeback but Real Madrid never looked back to snap a 3-game losing streak and remain several games ahead of FC Barcelona.
Top Performers: Guerschon Yabusele fueled Real Madrid with 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field plus 7 rebounds, while Vincent Poirier added 14 points and 8 rebounds. Isaia Cordinier led Virtus with 12 points and 8 rebounds.
Bayern Munich (13-16) vs Zalgiris Kaunas (13-16) 64-58
Key to victory: At some point during the third quarter Bayern Munich got ahead 50-32 despite starting slow with 0-6 deficit during the opening minutes of the game. Bayern’s defense was the key for the German team as Zalgiris had 15 turnovers for 10 assists.
Top Performers: Devin Booker paced Bayern with 20 points and 6 rebounds, while guards Carsen Edwards and Sylvain Francisco scored 10 each. Keenan Evans led Zalgiris with a game-high 21 points.
ASVEL LDLC (7-22) vs Anadolu Efes (12-17) 84-80
Key to victory: ASVEL just kept rolling and the margin was 74-56 with 7:34 minutes to go. But Efes finally started its run and got the deficit down to 79-75 with under 2 minutes to play. Rodrigue Beaubois’ triple made it 81-80 with 29 seconds remaining. ASVEL remained composed and Nando De Colo drove into the lane and dished out to Paris Lee and the guard drained the game-winner with 4.8 seconds to play.
Top Performers:Â Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 21 points. Deshaun Thomas added 20 points and Nando De Colo chipped in 5 points and 9 assists. Will Clyburn paced Efes with 16 points and Darius Thompson scored 15 points.
