EUROLEAGUE – Tunceri saves the day as Efes edge Panathinaikos to clinch place in Last 16

ISTANBUL (Euroleague) - Heads are still spinning after a crazy Wednesday night in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague that saw Kerem Tunceri rescue Efes Pilsen at the death against Panathinaikos and qualify the Istanbul team for the Top 16 and Caja Laboral edge hosts Zalgiris Kaunas in overtime.

Efes led the Group D game by 18 points at half-time but Pana stormed back to go in front and had a chance to win in the waning seconds after a basket by Dmitris Diamantidis.

Bringing back memories of the Semi-Finals of the FIBA World Championship when his lay-up gave Turkey a one-point win against Serbia, Tunceri darted into the lane past both Diamantidis and Nick Calathes and made a lay-up at the buzzer for a 79-78 win.

Tunceri finished with 15 points.

Panathinaikos got a huge lift from Ian Vougioukas, who had a career-high 18 in the Euroleague.

Diamantidis finished with 17, including one long three-pointer that was made from the hash mark in front of the Efes Pilsen bench in the fourth quarter with the shot clock about to expire.

Defeat has left Zeljko Obradovic’s Panathinaikos level with Union Olimpija (both 6-3) because the Slovenia giants won their game at home against CSKA Moscow, 81-72. An estimated 13,000 fans watched the game in Ljubljana’s Stozice Arena.

The Efes win also extinguished CSKA’s faint hopes of advancing in the competition.

CSKA, who parted with coach Dusko Vujosevic a few weeks ago, are 2-7.

“After eight consecutive years in the Final Four, it’s a big blow to the club, but that’s life,” said CSKA boss Dmitry Shakulin.

With Efes Pilsen having secured their Last 16 spot, Power Electronics Valencia (3-5) know they must win on Thursday night at Armani Jeans Milano (4-4) to stay alive in the competition.

In Group A, Caja Laboral won a 95-89 overtime thriller at Zalgiris.

The visitors got seven three-pointers from Mirza Teletovic in the first half and led 52-33 at the break but a furious second-half rally saw Zalgiris come back and send the game to an extra period.

Once in the overtime, Brad Oleson buried a three and Stanko Barac followed with a basket for an 85-80 Caja Laboral advantage and they stayed in front the rest of the way, improving to 4-5.

The Spanish side is now in fourth place.

Teletovic finished nine of 13 from long range and scored 32 points.

Stanko Barac and Fernando San Emeterio each had 21 points for the winners.

Zalgiris lost with Rimantas Grigas on the sidelines as the new coach.

He replaced Aco Petrovic, who was sacked earlier in the week despite the Kaunas club's strong start to the campaign in all competitions.

Paulius Jankunas led a balanced Zalgiris attack with 17 points.

The defeat has left Zalgiris with a 5-4 record and yet to earn a place in the Last 16.

Partizan Belgrade are also 5-4 in Group A after a 61-59 home win against Asseco Prokom.

Cholet Basket (4-5) took another step towards the next round with an 81-65 home triumph over Cibona (0-8) in Group C.

In Group B, Olympiacos are now alone at the top with a 6-3 record after defeats by Real Madrid and Unicaja Malaga.

Malaga lost 81-75 at Lottomatica Roma, who are also now 5-4, and Madrid slipped to an 82-75 defeat at Brose Baskets Bamberg.

Olympiacos had won their game at Spirou Charleroi on Monday, 80-67.

FIBA