In top form: CSKA Moscow tonight (Friday) recorded its tenth consecutive victory in the Euroleague after 65:83 over Zenitsent Petersburg. The team’s last loss at the factory was somewhere in mid-October and since then it has been simply unstoppable. Points, six rebounds and six assists.
CSKA raised its balance to 3:12 and had no difficulty at all against Zenit, whose balance dropped to 5: 8. The Reds started the game strong and after the first half led 31:45. , But two of Will Claiborne’s from the line set up 49:66 before the decisive quarter.
Despite 12 points from KC Rivers, Kevin Pangos and Alex Poiters (each), Zenit has recorded a third loss in the last four games. On the other hand, Darren Hilliard and Nikola Milutinov (13 double-pointers and 13 rebounds) were significant in CSKA’s victory.
Red Star Belgrade (10: 5) – Valencia (6: 9) 73:76
After losing in extra time to Alba Berlin in the previous round, the Red Star recorded its first home victory after four consecutive losses without the frames, actually against the strong Valencia.
After a first quarter that ended in a slight advantage for the Spaniards, Corey Walden and Jordan Lloyd led the Serbs to a 2:11 run in the second quarter. But the Spaniards returned to the game, thanks to an excellent third quarter, precisely when Kalman Perflich was weak, (a good first half with 13 points) and Nikola Kalinic, who also missed a lot. The Spaniards’ salvation came thanks to a three by Martin Harmenson and another by Lewis LeBriire, who covered the two and sent both teams level for the final ten minutes.
In the final quarter, Valencia finally managed to regain the lead, with Josep Puerto setting up 65:67 with two accurate shots from the line. But then came the turning point, when Jordan Lloyd took over the game. The American scored 10 consecutive points to win the star, out of his 20 in the entire game, and that’s what pretty much ended the story and gave the Serbs a fifth victory this season in the Euroleague.
