EUROLEAGUE - Pekovic, Panathinaikos pummel Partizan in Top 16; Milano edge Reds
ATHENS (Euroleague) – Nikola Pekovic helped carry Partizan Belgrade into the quarter-finals of last year's Euroleague but now the Montenegro international plays for Panathinaikos and on Thursday he tormented his old club. The giant center, Pana's big signing before this campaign, had 26 points to lead the men in green to an 81-63 ...
ATHENS (Euroleague) – Nikola Pekovic helped carry Partizan Belgrade into the quarter-finals of last year's Euroleague but now the Montenegro international plays for Panathinaikos and on Thursday he tormented his old club.
The giant center, Pana's big signing before this campaign, had 26 points to lead the men in green to an 81-63 triumph over Partizan at OAKA in the opening week of Top 16 action.
Pekovic took a season-high 16 trips to the free-throw line and showed a deft touch by making 15.
Vassilis Spanoulis of Greece also contributed 15 points.
Spanoulis and Panathinaikos’ other Greek national team players rarely speak about individual success so Pekovic fits right in.
"My performance does not matter," he said. "Whether I score just one point or more, the team is above all."
As for facing his Montenegro national team coach Vujosevic and all of his former Partizan teammates, Pekovic added: "It wasn’t easy for me to play against Partizan, however I am a professional player and as soon as I entered the court, I forgot my past."
It's been a good week for Panathinaikos because they also defeated Maroussi to reach the final of the Greek Cup.
Olympiacos will also be in the Greek Cup final after defeating Panionios 84-79 but unlike Panathinaikos, they weren't able to claim victory in their first Top 16 game at Armani Jeans Milano.
Luca Vitali and David Hawkins each scored 15 points as Milano stayed hot in the Euroleague with a 76-74 win.
Milano went in front by 15 points in the third quarter but the Reds stormed back and could have tied the game or taken the lead in the closing seconds.
But Lynn Greer, who played for Team USA at the 2005 FIBA Americas Championship, stumbled and lost control of the ball.
Mike Hall was immense when the game hung in the balance for Milano at the end, scoring eight of their final 11 points.
For Olympiacos, Greece international Georgios Printezis had 22 points and new signing Jannero Pargo, brought in to play in place of the injured Josh Childress, scored five.
Defending champions CSKA Moscow opened up a 41-25 lead at half-time and cruised to a 66-48 victory in Turkey over Fenerbahce Ulker.
Unicaja Malaga claimed an 88-75 triumph at Lottomatica Roma behind strong performances from Marcus Haislip (22 points) and Boniface Ndong (15).
Maccabi Tel Aviv got big games from Israeli internationals Lior Eliyahu and Omri Casspi in their 96-65 win at home over Alba Berlin.
Eliyahu finished with a game-high 22 points while Casspi, who has been receiving more playing time of late, was on the court for more than 20 minutes and scored 12 points.
FIBA