CSKA strikes back in Berlin
CSKA Moscow avenged an early-season loss and stayed perfect all-time in the German capital by downing host ALBA Berlin 68-71 on Wednesday. The victory kept CSKA in second place at 16-6, tied with leaders FC Barcelona. ALBA fell to 8-14 and remains in 14th place. It was a back-and-forth battle in which CSKA, after being up by a game-high of 12-20 but giving up the lead in the middle quarters, struck back with 12-19 final quarter prevail. Toko Shengelia led the winners, who were without top scorer Mike James, with 20 points. Daniel Hackett followed with 13, including 8 in the fourth quarter, while Nikola Milutinov registered a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. ALBA got 15 points from Peyton Siva but otherwise spread around it s scoring and suffered from CSKA s 6-12 advantage on the offensive glass.
Baskonia halts CSKA s streak in a thriller, 95-93
In their record 43rd Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game this century, TD System Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz stopped visiting CSKA Moscow 95-93 in a thriller that went down to the wire on Thursday. Baskonia lifted its record to 9-9 while ending CSKA s 12-game winning streak and dropping the visitors to 14-4. Baskonia led by 15 late in the first quarter and 12 after three, but CSKA rallied to go ahead 55-60 between those extremes and had a chance to win or tie until Mike James missed the game s last shot. Pierria Henry had 18 points and 10 assists to lead the winners, and Achille Polonara matched his scoring. Rokas Giedraitis added 17 points, Youssoupha Fall 16 and Luca Vildoza 12 for Baskonia, which posted its highest scoring total of the season. James had 20 points and 7 assists for CSKA, which played without injured stars Will Clyburn and Daniel Hackett. Joel Bolomboy, Janis Strelnieks and Tornike Shengelia Baskonia s long-time leader