By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Two traditional powerhouses finished Thursday night with home wins, however Real Madrid got it with a comfortable 85-61 final score over Crvena Zvezda, while Maccabi Tel Aviv had to fight until the last moment over Panathinaikos (73-70).
Despite a big game by Boban Marjanovic (21 p., 13 r.), Real after the first quarter in which it trailed by two (18-16) had the game under control. The partial score in the second period was 24-11 for the Spaniards and Jaycee Carroll with 17 points was the leading scorer of the winners.
The game in Tel Aviv was very different. Maccabi finished the first half with a 38-30 lead, but Panathinaikos cut it to two (54-52) at the end of the third quarter. The Greeks couldn’t tie the score or take the lead, but they chased Maccabi until the last second being constantly just one or two shots away. In the end at least they kept the tie breaking advantage by losing by three points, having won by seven in Athens. Jeremy Pargo scored 16 points for Maccabi, Vladimir Jankovic had also 16 for Panathinaikos and Nikos Pappas added 15 for the Greens.