EUROLEAGUE – Big wins for Roma, Valencia; Maccabi edge Zalgiris to clinch Top 16 place

ROME (Euroleague) - Lottomatica Roma and Power Electronics Valencia won again and Maccabi Tel Aviv clinched their sixth victory with a late triumph on the road at Zalgiris to seal a spot in the Top 16 of the Euroleague.

There were also success for Unicaja Malaga, Union Olimpija, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Olympiacos and Regal Barcelona.

Roma, who won at Brose Baskets Bamberg last week with a Charles Smith buzzer-beating three-pointer, returned to the Eternal City and defeated Spirou Charleroi, 95-83.

Darius Washington poured in 27 points for Roma, who were knotted at 66-66 with 10 minutes left but outscored the Belgian outfit 29-17 the rest of the way.

Roma went on a 16-2 run at the start of the fourth quarter to take a stranglehold with Washington scoring on a three-point play and then adding a fast-break lay-up.

Matteo Boniciolli's team improved to 4-3 - the same record as Group B rivals Real Madrid and Unicaja Malaga.

Unicaja clinched their fourth win of the season with a 75-71 come-from-behind success at home against Real.

Roma now look good bets to reach the Top 16.

"It was paramount to attain the first goal of the season, the Top 16, and with this win we are closer to it now more than ever," Boniciolli said.

"After all the downs we suffered, we must understand one thing - that we need energy if we want to achieve things."

Washington earned Player of the Week honors with his performance.

Charleroi fell to 2-5 with the setback.

In Unicaja's win, the hosts trailed by eight going to the fourth quarter but still prevailed.

Ante Tomic had put Madrid on top at 71-70 but Berni Rodriguez answered with a three-pointer just 32 seconds from the end for Unicaja and Saul Blanco iced the victory with a pair of free-throws.

Blanco finished with 17 points and six rebounds while Great Britain international Joel Freeland poured in 15 points and corralled 10 boards.

Spain's Sergio Llull led Madrid with 16 points.

Group B leaders Olympiacos thrashed Brose Baskets Bamberg 86-69 to improve to 5-2 and move a game clear of Real, Unicaja and Roma.

Power Electronics Valencia looked dead in the water after a home loss to Armani Jeans Milano on November 11 and a road defeat at Union Olimpija the following week but back-to-back wins at Panathinaikos and at home to Efes Pilsen on Thursday have them back in contention for a Top 16 place.

Now led by Yugoslavia's 2002 FIBA World Championship-winning coach Svetislav Pesic, Valencia prevailed 62-56 over Efes.

Nando De Colo of France and Serbia's Dusko Savanovic each had 13 points for Valencia while Lithuania captain Robertas Javtokas had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with his seven points.

A Savanovic three-ball three minutes into the fourth quarter put Valencia on top 53-51 and they led the rest of the way though Efes kept the pressure on until the end.

"I'm really proud because the team fought today to win the game," Pesic said.

"This is good for the people, for the team, for the confidence and for me.”

Efes are third in Group D with a 4-3 record followed by Milano (3-4), who fell 82-75 at Union Olimpija (5-2), and Valencia (3-4).

In Olimpija's win that was achieved in front of 12,800 fans at the Stozice Arena, the Ljubljana club trailed 57-51 after the Italians outscored it 25-9 in the third quarter.

Jure Zdovc's Olimpija battled back in the fourth to win with a Damir Markota shot from the arc tying the game at 71-71 and Goran Jagodnik's three-ball with 1:11 remaining putting them on top to stay.

Jagodnik, who represented Slovenia at the FIBA World Championship this summer in Turkey, finished with 15 points.

"I have to thank our fans, who were phenomenal tonight," he said.

"When nobody believed we could turn the game upside down, the crowd rose and gave us a boost that I cannot explain."

Zalgiris led Maccabi Tel Aviv 68-67 but the Israeli giants’ Chuck Eidson drilled a shot from the three-point line and put David Blatt’s side in front.

Maccabi added a David Blu free-throw for the 71-68 victory that lifted them to 6-1 in Group A and clinched a spot in the Top 16.

Zalgiris are 4-3 - level with Partizan Belgrade.

Regal Barcelona beat Cholet at the Palau Blaugrana, 76-62, and are now 5-2 in Group C.

The trail Montepaschi Siena and Fenerbahce Ulker, who both won on Wednesday.

All three sides have sealed places in the Top 16.

Boniface Ndong scored 15 points, Kosta Perovic 13 and Erazem Lorbek 11 for Barca, who also got six points, five assists and three rebounds from Ricky Rubio.

Victor Sada led the Barcelona defense with three steals.

Cholet slumped to 3-4 but are still in fourth place in Group C.

FIBA