By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Thanks to a buzzer beating tip in by Joey Dorsey, Barcelona send the game in overtime and got the 89-84 win over Anadolu Efes (2-6). The Catalans are still unbeaten after eight games in Top16, got a career nigh by Ante Tomic (26 p., 15 r.) and a new personal best by Juan Carlos Navarro who dished 11 assists. Still, if Semih Erden had successfully blocked out Dorsey at the end of the regulation, the result would be the opposite.
In Milan, the new defensive mentality of EA7 Milano (5-3) gave them a key 77-75 win over Panathinaikos (4-4) in a special night, during which Nando Gentile, a former player of both teams and father of current Milano’s captain Alessandro Gentile, was honored. On the court the game was decided in the last seconds with the Greens mounting a furious come back. However in the end with 1/2 free throws Keith Langford decided the outcome, as Zack Wright’s last shot in a 3 second possession for Panathinaikos missed the target.
In Vitoria the European debut of Lamar Odom wasn’t successful. Unicaja Malaga (4-4) prevailed on the road over Laboral Kutxa (1-7) by ten points (81-71), Odom in six minutes of actions had one missed shot and two rebounds and wasn’t used in the second half.
Last but not least, in Group F Maccabi Tel Aviv (6-2) defended its home court against Galatasaray (3-5) by getting a 97-81 win and dominating most of the game with a balanced effort and its usual uptempo style.