By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The 10th Top16 week started with the biggest win in Bayern Munich’s basketball history and the situation in Group E getting even more complicated as Fenerbahce/ Ulker beat Unicaja Malaga and now a four way tie is possible in the third place between those two teams and also Olympiacos and Panathinaikos with a 5-5 record. However the final 69-67 win of Fenerbahce, despite a 18-3 come back of the hosts will be remembered also because of an unusual call by referee Luigi Lamonica.
With 21 seconds left and Fener having a one point lead (65-64) and the ball, Bo McCalebb won a foul by Jayson Granger. There was contact, but also a healthy dose of effort by Bo to win the call. According to the rules, the foul was called automatically unsportsmanlike because the ball was not into play and that translates to two free throws and possession of the ball, like it happened. Still, Fener had major trouble in the inbound pass, couldn’t put the ball back on the court due to Granger’s pressure over McCalebb and a five seconds violation could have also been called, giving the ball to Unicaja with 21 seconds on the clock and a chance to win the game (video). That been said, Fener’s come back was impressive, Nemanja Bjelica with 13 points and 9 rebounds had a more than positive game and the crowd gave a much needed boost to the players of Zeljko Obradovic.
In Group F, CSKA Moscow (9-1) secured mathematically its place in the play offs by destroying Partizan (84-52) which now has a 2-8 record. On the contrary Real Madrid (8-2) lost at Munich to Bayern (85-83) in a game decided during the last seconds. The Germans led by Djedovic (21 p.) and Delaney (20 p.) have now a 5-5 and are still on the race for the play offs. The third place of the same group still belongs to Maccabi Tel Aviv (7-3) which did what it had to do against Zalgiris (2-8) and got without any real trouble a 77-67 win as Tyrese Rice had 19 points.
Finally in Vitoria, EA7 Milano got the impressive 83-65 win over Laboral Kutxa (2-8), despite a great game by Tibor Pleiss who had 30 points and 13 rebounds. However Milano was a much better team and holds the second place of Group E in its hands with a 7-3 record.