CSKA marches out of Bamberg with 20-point win

CSKA Moscow rolled to an important 58-78 road win over Brose Baskets Bamberg at Stechert Arena on Wednesday night to remain in the battle for a top spot in Top 16 Group E. The Russian champs never trailed after the opening minute en route to their seventh win alongside just three losses, which leaves CSKA in third place and just one win out of second. Bamberg dropped its 10th in a row to remain in the Group E cellar. Nenad Krstic led a balanced CSKA attack with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, while Vladimir Micov added 17 off the bench. Milos Teodosic delivered 16 points and 8 assists, Sonny Weems scored 11, Sasha Kaun 10 and Andrey Vorontsevich hauled in 11 rebounds for the visitors, who dominated the boards 24-41. Sharrod Ford paced Bamberg with 16 points and Matt Walsh added 13 points and 8 rebounds.

First quarter: Krstic starts strong to lead Moscow

CSKA coach Ettore Messina made one change to his starting lineup with Aaron Jackson starting for Aleksey Zozulin alongside Teodosic, Krstic, Sonny Weems and Sasha Kaun. Bamberg coach Chris Fleming meanwhile sent out the same five from last week in Karsten Tadda, Casey Jacobsen, Jeremiah Massey, Anton Gavel and Maik Zirbes. Massey started with the first basket for Bamberg with a drive to the basket. Moscow followed with the next 6 points on two Kaun dunks and a jumper from the left corner by Weems for a 2-6 CSKA lead and a Bamberg timeout. Teodosic came out of the timeout with a three and after two inside scores by Zirbes nailed another triple to open a 6-14 advantage for the guests. Gavel answered with a triple of his own before Krstic began to take over inside with a three-point play. Matt Walsh nailed a three-pointer to make it 12-17, but Krstic scored three more baskets to push the cushion to 14-23. Bostjan Nachbar made free throws and Gavel a late jumper to trim the gap to 18-23 after one quarter.

Second quarter: Micov and Teodosic carry CSKA

Micov started the second quarter with a fast break layup for an 18-25 Moscow advantage and an immediate Bamberg timeout. Nachbar responded with a three to make it 21-25. Micov hit a floater and a triple as CSKA pushed the lead to 21-32. It was still an 11-point gap after Teodosic’s layup. But Walsh nailed a long ball and put back his own miss before Jacobsen drained a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 31-35. After a Moscow timeout, Teodosic countered with a trey of his own and Weems scored on the break as Moscow went up 31-40. Jacobsen and Ford cut it to 35-40 but Teodosic and Micov both nailed another three balls from the left corner as Moscow was up 35-46 at the break.

Third quarter: Bamberg unable to cut into deficit

Jacobsen opened the scoring in the second half with a driving layup. Kaun’s foul shots were CSKA’s first points. Zirbes sandwiched inside baskets around an Aaron Jackson triple before Kaun’s alley-oop started an 0-6 run with Micov and Teodosic both scoring again to push the lead to 41-57. Ford knocked down a fall away jumper to stop the surge temporarily but CSKA veteran Theo Papaloukas found Krstic for a layup and then nailed a triple to a 45-62 lead. Ford’s free throws cut the deficit to 47-62 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Offensive rebounds, back-to-back triples finish off Bamberg

Bamberg started the fourth quarter with the first 6 points on a triple by Ford and 3 foul shots by Walsh to make it 53-62. Krstic finally got Moscow on the board with two free throws and then nailed a jumper after two CSKA offensive rebounds to push the advantage to 53-66. Ford and Walsh scored to cut the gap to 57-66 with more than four minutes left but Micov and Weems both nailed triples from the left side to make it 57-72 with just more than three minutes left. Bamberg failed to execute and Micov knocked down a turn-around jumper as the lead grew to 57-74. Weems added two more scores to his tally down the stretch.