By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
It was as tough as it gets, but Real Madrid escaped with a 98-96 home win over Zaragoza. Gustavo Ayon kept his team alive with a monster 20-point, 12-rebound double-double, Sergio Llull scored 18 points including a clutch bucket for the 96-94 lead, but Anthony Randolph’s buzzer-beating tip-in following 31-year-old Llull’s shot was the one that secured the “W” for Pablo Laso’s club.
The hosts fell in nine-point hole in the first half. They seemed to recover in the second half, but Zaragoza kept on coming back until no more time was left. Randolph’s winning play got him to 14 points in only 13:40 minutes of action. Fabien Causeur also notched 14 points. Facundo Campazzo and Jeffery Taylor were left out with injured Jaycee Carroll and Ognjen Kuzmic.
Renaldas Seibutis was clutch down the stretch of the ACB Regular Season Round 16 game and finished up with 19 points on the road, but wasn’t enough for Porfirio Fisac’s team. Stan Okoye followed with 18 points.
The other two early Sunday matches also went down the wire, but a total of 15 extra minutes were needed to decide the victors. On the road, Iberostar Tenerife escaped with a 96-91 double-overtime win over UCAM Murcia CB and BAXI Manresa grabbed an 91-85 overtime “W” against Delteco GBC.