By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
As expected Olympiacos got the win over Neptunas (89-79) without feeling any real pressure and the 8th gameday of Euroleague’s regular season ended with a big fight in Valencia which was won in the end by Crvena Zvezda (77-68). After this result the Serbs qualified to the Top16.
The news from the win of Olympiacos came from Spanoulis climbing to the third place of the Euroleague’s all time scorers list. Also Brent Petway scored 20 points, a personal best in Euroleague in a game which was always under control by the Greeks. Despite a good start (11-4) by the Lithuanians, the Reds reacted, got the 24-19 lead at the end of the first quarter, build a double digits cushion and cruised to the win until the end, almost securing on the way the top spot of the final group D standings. In order to lose the first place, they have to lose the last two games, Zvezda to get two wins and also cover the six points difference from Olympiacos win at Belgrade at SEF.
The second place belongs to Crvena Zvezda (5-3) after beating Valencia on the road. Still even with a 2-6 record and in the buttom of the standings, the Spaniards can still hope for a place in Top16. With six minutes to go, the hosts were trailing by three points (67-64), but they scored just four more points until the end. The duo of Marcus Williams (17 p.) and Boban Marjanovic (18 p., 11 r.) was once again the key, along with solid defense against a talented team.