ESP - Madrid win El Clasico to join Barca at the top

MADRID (ACB) - It would have been understandable if Real Madrid had suffered a letdown at the weekend following their thrilling five-game Euroleague quarter-final series triumph over Power Electronics Valencia.

But Emanuele Molin's team rode the momentum of their Final Four qualification to a 77-72 overtime triumph against Regal Barcelona at the Caja Magica.

Barca, playing without injured star Juan Carlos Navarro, had a chance to win El Clasico at the death.

After a basket by Croatia center Ante Tomic knotted the game at 64-64 with 17 seconds to go, Barca held the ball for the last shot and Fran Vazquez missed.

Two free-throws by Roger Grimau put Barca into a 72-71 lead midway through the overtime but after Tomic split a pair at the stripe, he earned another trip to the line and made two more for a 73-72 advantage.

Spain national team hopeful Carlos Suarez and Argentina national team playmaker Pablo Prigioni sank two more for the 77-72 final.

Suarez finished with 19 points and Tomic 17.

Barcelona's Ricky Rubio missed all five of shots from the floor and failed to score, while also turning the ball over five times and dishing out just three assists.

Barcelona lost their Euroleague quarter-final series to Panathinaikos, 3-1, and have now suffered two straight defeats in the ACB.

The result has left Barcelona and Real Madrid with 23-6 records at the top of the standings.

Power Electronics are three games adrift in third place at 20-9 after bouncing back from the Euroleague disappointment against Madrid with an 86-79 win over Meridiano Alicante.

Jeremy Richardson had 20 points and Dusko Savanovic 15 for Valencia, who also got nine points, 10 assists and six steals from Omar Cook.

Caja Laboral, also beaten in the Euroleague quarter-finals by Maccabi Tel Aviv, 3-1, claimed an 89-83 victory at Assignia Manresa (9-20).

Bizkaia Bilbao Basket remained hot, staying just a game behind Valencia in fourth place after a 79-56 rout of CAI Zaragoza.

Greece national team hopeful Kostas Vasileiadis led a balanced Bilbao attack with 16 points.

Unicaja Malaga (16-13) had their five-game winning streak come to an end in a 90-67 drubbing at Lagun Aro GBC.

Andy Panko had a phenomenal game for Lagun, scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Unicaja's Joel Freeland scored 26 points and corralled eight rebounds.

He and Panko finished with valuations of 35.

Gran Canaria are now seventh in the standings at 16-13 after a 93-69 victory at DKV Joventut.

Jaycee Carroll erupted for 35 points after drilling six of eight three-balls and finished with a valuation of 38.

He was named Player of the Week in the ACB.

Granada and Menorca Basquet occupy the bottom two spots but both won their games.

The former won 67-62 over Blancos de Rueda Valladolid as Coby Karl scored 21 points.

Menorca were 85-84 winners over visiting Cajasol Sevilla, with Victor Cuthbert scoring 20 points and Daniel Ciorciari handing out 13 assists.

Cajasol Sevilla will now attempt to win the Eurocup Finals next weekend in Treviso, Italy. If they do, Joan Plaza's side would qualify for next season's Euroleague.

Fuenlabrada are out of the play-off spots for now after an 87-73 defeat at Asefa Estudiantes.

FIBA