Basketball-Fenerbahce crush Red Star as CSKA sink Real

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Euroleague's nouveau rich team Fenerbahce Istanbul crushed Red Star Belgrade 88-65 in the competition's stand-out game on Friday. The second round of the Top 16, featuring two groups of eight sides, also produced a share of the spoils in a doubleheader involving Spanish and Russian giants on Thursday. Six-times winners CSKA Moscow overpowered holders Real Madrid 95-81 while city rivals Khimki lost 87-70 at Barcelona. Unfazed by a fervent 7,000 Serbian crowd, Fenerbahce vindicated several years of heavy investment as Czech centre Jan Vesely, Italian forward Luigi Datome and Red Star's former stalwart Pero Antic sank the home side. Aided by livewire playmaker Bobby Dixon, who pulled the strings, the visitors stifled Red Star with water-tight defending and carved out a 41-28 lead at the interval. Fenerbahce kept firing on all cylinders after the break and landed a third successive win over Red Star, having beaten them twice in the preliminary group stage. "Our starters did a great job at both ends of the court tonight," the Turkish side's Serbian coach Zeljko Obradovic told a news conference. CRACKING ATMOSPHERE Vesely said: "It was tough in the opening few minutes as the home fans created a cracking atmosphere but we stayed strong". Datome claimed 21 points and Dixon 17. Vesely chipped in with 15 while Antic and Ekpe Udoh added 12 apiece to underline Fenerbahce's balanced team effort in the Pionir Arena. Real, who have won a record nine Euroleague titles, made a bright start at CSKA but were undone by the Russian side's dynamic backcourt duo Nando De Colo and Milos Teodosic. Both had seven assists as Frenchman De Colo racked up 28 points and Serbia's Teodosic added 23. "Someone can look at the boxscore and say De Colo and Teodosic won the game but the fact is we forced the opposition to commit 17 turnovers," said CSKA's Greek coach Dimitris Itoudis. The Euroleague's all-time leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro and fellow guard Pau Ribas scored 14 points each for Barcelona against a subdued Khimki. Elsewhere, underdogs Cedevita Zagreb upset Darussafaka Istanbul 79-72 after American guard Jacob Pullen nailed a barrage of audacious three-pointers in the final quarter to finish on 25 points. Former champions Olympiakos Piraeus ground out an 82-76 triumph at Spaniards Kutxa Laboral Vitoria and Lokomotiv Krasnodar edged Anadolu Efes Istanbul 78-77 on the back of 25 points by Malcolm Delaney. (Editing by Tony Jimenez)