Real Madrid downed Belgacom Spirou 76-100

Real Madrid opened the Turkish Airlines Euroleague season in resounding fashion, cruising to a 76-100 victory against Belgacom Spirou on the road at the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. Madrid increased its domination with each quarter as the Belgian squad found itself outmanned inside, often leaving Madrid's shooters open with good looks outside. Madrid led by 8 points at halftime, 37-45, progressively widening the lead after that. Felipe Reyes and Rudy Fernandez shared the scoring honors for Madrid with 19 apiece. Reyes was a model of efficiency, shooting 77% from the field while leading the team with 9 rebounds. Fernandez, in his first game since returning to the Euroleague, hit 2 of 4 shots from downtown. Jaycee Carroll was another standout, scoring 14 points, including 3 of 5 three-point attempts. Spirou tried to answer, none more so than Demond Mallet, whose 27 points led all scorers, but Madrid had too many weapons. Tornike Shengelia also contributed 11 points, adding 9 rebounds, to lead Spirou in that department.

Carlos Suarez got the scoreboard rolling after 2 minutes for Madrid while Christophe Beghin did he same for Spirou. Ante Tomic dunked on nice dish from Novica Velickovic, while Beghin scored on a reverse to tie. Fernandez drained his first three-point bomb off a screen, while Justin Hamilton's baseline jumper on a dish from Mallet also fell. Madrid kept moving ahead and Spirou staying close, the last time on Andre Riddick's basket at 10-11. Then, Sergio Llull hit his first basket, Suarez a triple and Fernandez a fadeway as Madrid surged ahead 10-18. Riddick fed Hamilton for a dunk, before Nikola Mirotic and Mallet traded three-pointers as Madrid stayed comfortably in front, 16-23, after 10 minutes.

Chris Hill's layup to open the second quarter cut into Madrid's lead, but only until Carroll nailed a three-pointer off the bench. Reyes heated up then, making it 18-28 before Sergio Rodriguez entered the scoring column with 2 free throws. Reyes added free throws and converted a laser pass from Rodriguez at 21-33. Shengelia made his presence felt then, but Carroll had another three-pointer up his sleeve, lifting Madrid to its biggest lead yet, 25-39. Shengelia's 2 free throws and nifty crossover layup kept Spirou as close as 28-39. And even though Reyes came up big again with consecutive baskets, Mallet matched those and Spirou stayed within striking distance 37-45, after 20 minutes.

Suarez and Tomic hit baskets straight out of the locker room as Madrid shot back ahead 37-49. After a Llull look-away pass set up to Fernandez for a short baseline shot, Mallet buried a three-pointer at 42-53. A burst of up-tempo scoring followed, with Llull hitting a triple of his own, then Shengelia hitting consecutive layups to bring Spirou within 46-56. Reyes came back in from the bench and promptly drained a jumper, and soon Tomic had a layup and free throw, lifting Madrid's lead to 13. Riddick and Beghin tried to rally Spirou, but between Mirza Begic and Fernandez, who drilled another three, kept Madrid well ahead, 55-71 after 30 minutes.

A dunk by Begic opened the fourth, and by the time Carroll and Mirotic hit layups, Madrid's lead had widened to 57-78. Carroll then supplied the high lead, 59-81, from downtown. Only Mallet could score for Spirou, hitting 3 consecutive baskets at 63-81, but Mirotic inflated the lead again with a three-pointer. An untouched Reyes hit an easy put-back on offensive boards, then Mallet drained a three, 68-86. Spirou's star guard then found Riddick on an inside bounce pass to bring the home team to within 16, 70-86. Shengelia swatted away a Fernandez drive in a rare stop underneath for Spirou. Riddick hit from underneath basket and Randy Oveneke looped in reverse layup in transition for his first points, 74-93. Marty Pocius buried a three-pointer as the only suspense left was whether Madrid would reach 100 points. Suarez did the honors with foul shots at 47 seconds left as Madrid became he season's first team to hit the century mark.