Advertisement

Basketball-Doellman shines as Barcelona sink Real in Euroleague

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Barcelona edged holders Real Madrid 87-86 in a Euroleague-flavoured El Clasico after forward Justin Doellman settled the thriller with an audacious buzzer-beater on Thursday. Laboral Kutxa Vitoria beat six-time winners CSKA Moscow 81-71 and Lokomotiv Krasnodar enjoyed a 76-67 success against Panathinaikos, who also have six titles in Europe's premier club competition. Off balance after collecting a wayward pass, Doellman drained the game's final shot to silence a raucous Real crowd in one of the most memorable matches between Spain's traditional rivals. The 30-year old American finished with a game-high 24 points after nailing all his six three-point attempts and three out of six from two-point range. "We fought adversity in the fourth quarter and it feels really good to win here in Madrid against a very-well coached team," Doellman told Euroleague television. "It was an important one for us because we now have two wins out of four games and a fair chance of reaching the knockout stages, but we have to keep up the momentum." Real produced a ripping 20-2 run to overcome an 8-0 deficit and held the upper hand until the final quarter, when Barcelona turned the tide. The home side appeared to have forced the final twist after Felipe Reyes hit one of two free throws with eight seconds remaining, only for Doellman to stun the crowd of 12,000 inside the Barclaycard Arena. "It was a game all true basketball fans could enjoy and of course we are delighted to have come out on top," said Barcelona coach Xavi Pasqual. The result also left Real on two wins and as many defeats in their half of the Top 16 section, featuring two groups of eight. The top two from each pool will advance to the quarter-finals, whose winners qualify for the May 13-15 Final Four in Berlin. An inspired Kutxa Laboral stunned CSKA, throwing the fiercely competitive group wide open as the outcome left both teams level with Barcelona and Real on a 2-2 record. Greek centre Ioannis Bourousis shone with 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Basque outfit, while Serbia playmaker Milos Teodosic stood out for CSKA with 18 points and seven assists. In the other section, Cedevita Zagreb stung more heralded Anadolu Efes Istanbul 84-80 thanks to 16 points apiece by Miro Bilan and Marko Arapovic. (Editing by Frank Pingue)