ESP - Leaders Madrid power past Granada

MADRID (ACB) - League leaders Real Madrid blew out CB Granada in the opening five minutes of the game and rolled to their ACB League-leading 18th victory.  

Blaguti Sekulic's three-point play was followed by consecutive three-balls from Louis Bullock as Joan Plaza's team stormed out to a 20-3 lead. They eventually prevailed 97-72. 

Charles Smith led the home side with 22 points and grabbed five rebounds as they took a 52-32 lead at the halfway stage.

His efforts were matched by Granada’s Italian international Andrea Pecile, who scored the same number of points and had two assists. 

The visitors now have an 8-12 record.

DKV Joventut turned up the heat on fourth-placed Akasvayu Girona with a 92-72 win over their nearest-placed rivals.

Rudy Fernandez, the FIBA Europe Young Player of the Year, stole the show for the home side, scoring 18 points as they improved to 13-7.

The home side took a 16-8 lead at the end of the first quarter before extending their advantage to 42-27 at the midway stage.

Girona, spurred by 16-point man Marc Gasol, a world champion with Spain, stemmed the tide in the third quarter keeping the lead down to 15 points.

But it was not enough as DKV proved too strong for their third-placed opponents, extending their advantage by a further point in the final quarter.

Elsewhere, the biggest scorer of the day was Demetrius Darnell Alexander, whose 25 points and four rebounds helped eighth-placed Caja San Fernando condemn ViveMenorca to the foot of the table with a 91-84 win.

Gran Canaria Grupo Dunas are still seventh after improving their record to 11-9 thanks to an 80-70 win over Wintherthur FC Barcelona.

Vule Avdalovic top scored with 19 points as Pamesa Valencia Polaris held on to 10th place in the standings with an 83-75 win over World CB Murcia.

Joseph Gomis’ 23 points were the difference as Grupo Capitol Valladolid climbed off the bottom to edge out MMT Estudiantes by an 83-78 scoreline.

FIBA