Real Madrid

Gescrap Bizkaia had to win tonight to stay alive in the Euroleague and snatched a victory from Real Madrid in Bilbao, forcing them to stake their pass to the quarterfinals in the two remaining games of the Top 16. A 10-0 run in the opening minutes conditioned the clash in favour of the locals.

The Madridistas conceded as many as 34 points in the first 10 minutes of the encounter, an unusual feat for the locals, especially against a strong opponent like Real Madrid (34-14, 10').

Real Madrid tried it all in the second period, but Jackson led Bilbao's solid game, managing to fiercely defend against one of the best offences in the championship. Bilbao continuosly thwarted Real's ventures close to the iron, forcing them to only bank 26 points in 20 minutes as opposed to their usual 10. The locals had a crushing 26-point cushion by half-time.

Gescrap lowered the intensity of their game in the third quarter, but their lead was such that this went unnoticed on the scoreboard. Mumbru continued tallying points and Velickovic while the Whites' most solid man in offence, becoming the team's top scorer with 15 points in the period. Singler netted a three-pointer in the final minute, narrowing the gap to 19 points, but Lopez increased it on the buzzer again to 21 again for Gescrap (72-51, 30').

Carroll banked his first three points at the start of the final period, but they were countered by a local three-pointer. Bilbao gave no quarter despite the obvious improvement of Real Madrid in the final minutes and earned a victory that places them second in the group over the Madridistas due to having a greater basketaverage.