EUROLEAGUE – Jaric sparks Montepaschi against Reds; wins for Maccabi, Pana and Madrid

SIENA (Euroleague) - Montepaschi Siena, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Panathinaikos clinched their second wins in a row to lead 2-1 in their respective Turkish Airlines Euroleague quarter-finals while Real Madrid bounced back from their Game 2 defeat at home and prevailed at Power Electronics Valencia to move ahead in that series.

Humiliated in their opener at Olympiacos, 89-41, Montepaschi leveled the tie in Athens and on Tuesday night won 81-72 in Italy with Marko Jaric pouring in 24 points.

Jaric had scored just two and seven points, respectively, in the first two contests against the Reds.

"There's so much talent on this team," Jaric said.

"We have 14 players and every game there is someone that can score 20 points.

"We won a difficult game in Athens and we did well to repeat that home. At this point, none of us wants to return to play in Athens, but Game 4 will be very difficult."

Dusan Ivkovic's Olympiacos had allowed Montepaschi just nine first-half points in Game 1 but now the Italians are a win away from playing at the Final Four.

"We will be able to win the next game if we manage to make an extra effort, without trying to rush it too much," Montepaschi coach Simone Pianigiani said.

"The key will be defense, of course."

Maccabi Tel Aviv rolled to an 81-60 triumph in Israel over Caja Laboral and now lead that tie, 2-1.

David Blatt's team stretched a 24-23 lead at the end of the first quarter to 41-30 by half-time and then blew the game wide open over the next 10 minutes when outscoring the Spanish side 28-15.

Jeremy Pargo poured in 23 points and David Blu 16 for Maccabi.

"There's no place like home," Blatt said.

"Playing here is much easier for us with the energy we get from the fans and the intensity we bring."

Caja Laboral coach Dusko Ivanovic tried to reassure his team's fans.

"This series is wide open and anything can happen," he said.

"We're not tired as people may think.

"We can still win."

Doron Perkins played just eight minutes for Maccabi before needing to be helped to the locker room after a hard fall.

His status for Game 4 is uncertain.

Panathinaikos have edged ahead in a very close tie against defending champions Regal Barcelona.

Zeljko Obradovic's Greens won Game 3, 76-74 at O.A.K.A. in Athens.

The first two clashes in Barcelona were also close, with the Spanish outfit winning the opener 83-82 and then Pana knotting the series with a 75-71 triumph.

Game 3 went down to the last minute and twice Alan Anderson cut the Panathinaikos advantage to just one, making a pair of free-throws to reduce the arrears to 72-71 and then hitting a lay-up to make it 74-73.

Dimitris Diamantidis (18pts) hit a pair at the charity stripe each time to take the advantage back to three and then Pana put Jaka Lakovic on the line with just two seconds to go.

The Slovenian guard made the first but missed the second intentionally.

Mike Batiste batted the ball out and Lakovic chased it down but before he was able to put up a desperation shot, the buzzer sounded.

Barca must now win two games if they are to play in the Final Four that will be staged in their city.

Ricky Rubio hit four of five shots from long range and had 16 points for Barcelona.

Power Electronics fell apart in the last 12 minutes defensively against Real Madrid in their Game 3 and lost at La Fonteta, 75-66.

La Taronja led 51-43 but Madrid outscored Svetislav Pesic's team 32-15 the rest of the way.

Clay Tucker scored and Sergio Llull followed with a three-ball to end the third quarter before Tucker had the first two points of the fourth.

D'or Fischer had the first three buckets in the fourth quarter to cap a 13-0 run for Madrid and put them in front to stay.

They kept the pressure on over the last six minutes to stun Valencia.

"A win gives our team confidence and we believe that we can get another one here in Valencia," said Fischer, who led Madrid with a game-high 19 points.

"We are going to give it all in the next game to put an end to the series right here."

The Game 4s will be played on Thursday night.

FIBA