EUROLEAGUE – Valencia shock Armani Jeans Milano by 15; Saras leads Lietuvos Rytas past Barca

MILAN (Euroleague) - Expect the unexpected! That's what can be said about this season's Euroleague, especially after a topsy-turvy Thursday that saw a couple of results few could have predicted not that long ago.

Power Electronics Valencia continued their rise under veteran coach Svetislav Pesic with a 75-60 win over Armani Jeans Milano in Biella, and Lietuvos Rytas edged defending champions Regal Barcelona 88-87 in Vilnius with Sarunas Jasikevicius showing he's still got it!

What 'it' is, is character, personality, drive and unrivalled determination because at the ripe old age of 34 years old, he was probably the best player on the court.

Back on November 11, a cold wind was blowing through La Fonteta in Spain as Armani Jeans Milano built a 25-point lead and beat Power Electronics Valencia.

The result left Valencia in disarray, and led to the sacking of coach Manuel Hussein and the arrival of the great tactician and motivator Pesic.

What can't be forgotten, especially after Thursday, is how Valencia continued to fight under Hussein in the fourth quarter against Milano in the first meeting.

They began the quarter trailing by 23 points but ended up falling 80-69.

That was crucial because in claiming a 15-point win over Armani Jeans, Valencia gained not only a split of the two meetings with the Italian club but also earned a +4 goal differential that has lifted the Spanish outfit into fourth place in Group D.

That means heading into next week's last games, with Valencia (4-5) at home to Union Olimpija (6-3) and Milano (4-5) at Panathinaikos (6-3), the Spanish club has the inside track to the Top 16.

If Valencia win, they advance.

If Valencia lose and Milano upset Panathinaikos, the Italian team moves on to the Top 16.

If both Valencia and Milano fall, Valencia progress.

Pesic has led the club to four straight wins in Spain's ACB, and three out of four in Europe (he hadn't arrived yet when Valencia lost after the first Milano game at Union Olimpija, 72-68).

Of all the skills that Pesic possesses, and there are many, his greatest may be his ability to build confidence.

Valencia's players believe they can win every time they run onto the floor.

"I'm happy because the team has proven to have the right character for important games like this," he said on Thursday.

The feeling of Milano’s players after this game?

It was probably summed up best by Belgian center Tomas Van Den Spiegel, who tweeted: "It really sucks to throw a possible top16 qual away."

Piero Bucchi, the Armani Jeans Milano coach, will make sure his players are in the right frame of mind when they travel to Athens next week.

"Now we must try to transform anger from the defeat into positive energy," he said.

If Valencia do pull off this great comeback and reach the Top 16, it will be the second year in a row the club has risen from the dead.

In their Eurocup Qualifying Round tie with Dexia Mons-Hainaut last season, they crashed to a 15-point defeat in Belgium in the first leg yet returned to La Fonteta, led the second leg by 15 at the end of regulation to force overtime and then padded the lead in the extra period.

Valencia not only qualified for the 2009-10 Eurocup, but went on to capture the title.

That team was coached by Neven Spahija (now at Fenerbahce), but many of the players in that group are still in the Valencia squad.

Spahija left Valencia on good terms, but using the excuse that the club wasn’t going to have a big enough budget for the type of side needed to win in the Euroleague.

A big budget can buy big name-players, but less money, perhaps can still buy players with plenty of heart.

As for Jasikevicius, who wasn't offered a new deal by Panathinaikos after last season and only joined Lietuvos Rytas back home in Lithuania a few weeks ago, he's back!

Jasikevicius not only handed out the 10 assists against Barcelona, but hit some crucial shots, including one three-pointer late in the fourth quarter after the Catalan outfit had shaved a 13-point deficit midway through the frame to just two.

That bomb gave the hosts an 81-76 lead.

Even then, Lietuvos Rytas had to ride their luck at the end because they fouled Ricky Rubio with just 2.2 seconds remaining when he was putting up a desperation three.

The Barcelona playmaker made the first two at the line but missed the third and one of the smallest men on the Lietuvos Rytas roster, 1.93m guard Martynas Gecevicius, snagged the rebound for the last important play of the contest.

Lietuvos Rytas are 3-6 and in fifth place behind Cholet (4-5).

The Lithuanian giants play next week at Cibona Zagreb, who have lost all nine of their games, while Cholet are at Fenerbahce (6-3), who need to win to assure themselves of a second-place finish after crashing to a 94-65 defeat at Montepaschi Siena.

That result locked up first place for the Italian outfit, which is flying high at 8-1 despite wholesale changes to its roster in the summer.

Thursday's games are over and one thing that Jasikevicius said after the clash in Vilnius will have filled Lietuvos Rytas fans with pride.

"This is the Euroleague," he said. "Everybody fights everybody."

He also talked about the charged atmosphere in Vilnius.

"It's so unbelievable to play in a Siemens Arena crazy like this," he said.

"We needed such emotions."

There was another hugely important result and impressive performance by Maccabi Tel Aviv in Group A against BC Khimki.

David Blatt's team trailed Khimki 37-30 at half-time and were behind by as many as 10 points in the third quarter but outscored the Russian outfit 29-18 in the frame and eventually won, 80-76.

With the Group A loss, Khimki (3-6), no longer have a chance of progressing to the Top 16. The result allowed Zalgiris Kaunas to clinch their spot in the next round.

Maccabi, which had already locked up first place, improved to 8-1.

FIBA