CSKA Moscow beat Brose Baskets 78-81

CSKA Moscow continued its unbeaten run through Group B by downing Brose Baskets Bamberg 78-81 on former MVP Milos Teodosic’s buzzer-beating three-pointer. It was a thrilling game that saw the lead swing back and forth throughout the 40 minutes and featured four lead changes in the last five minutes. After freshly crowned November MVP Nenad Krstic tied the game at 78-78 with 51 seconds left, Casey Jacobsen missed a triple for the hosts and despite P.J. Tucker’s offensive rebound, Viktor Khryapa stole the ball and Teodosic did not hesitate when given a chance to win the game. Krstic paced CSKA with 20 points, Khryapa tallied 19 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, Alexey Shved netted 14 and Teodosic finished with 12 points and 5 assists. Marcus Slaughter led Brose Baskets with 21 points, Tucker scored 11 and Anton Gavel 10 as Bamberg dropped to 2-5 and into a three-way tie for fourth place.

Tibor Pleiss got the host team on the board first with a layup inside, which Krstic answered in the paint. Brose pounded the ball into the low blocks with Pleiss hitting a hook shot and Slaughter laying in a shot off the glass before Brian Roberts’ driving layup to make it 8-2. And Slaughter’s left-handed dunk down the baseline had the hosts up 10-4. Krstic hit 3 of 4 foul shots and Khryapa made a layup and back-to-back triples from the top of the arc for a 12-15 CSKA lead and a Brose timeout as Moscow put together a 2-11 run. Slaughter ended the surge with a dunk and Jacobsen pushed Brose back in front with a three-ball to make it 17-15. Khryapa hit right back with another triple and Teodosic’s layup-and-one pushed the Moscow lead to 17-23. And it was 18-25 after Teodosic’s jumper just before the first quarter buzzer.

Jamont Gordon’s jumper to open the second frame increased the Moscow margin to 18-27. Predrag Suput nailed a jumper in the lane and three straight empty possessions by Moscow allowed Bamberg to reel off an 8-0 run, completed by Julius Jenkins’s floater in the lane to bring Brose within 26-27. Shved’s triple snapped the run and Sasha Kaun’s put-back dunk re-established a 6-point lead for the guests. Tucker got Brose back into the groove with an alley-oop dunk and Slaughter hit a jump hook as the hosts pulled within 2. It was a 1-point game after Slaughter’s basket off the glass and 2 Suput free throws knotted the game at 35-35. Gordon nailed a triple from the right wing for CSKA and then Teodosic got inside for a driving layup. Brose called a timeout after Krstic’s dunk made it 35-42. A Brose timeout did not help as Krstic scored another inside basket to make it 35-44. The hosts at least got a jumper from Gavel to trim the deficit to 37-44 at half-time.

Gavel started the second half with a triple for Brose but could not get back quick enough to stop Shved’s driving layup. Slaughter however hit a tough jumper and completed the three-point play to bring the margin to 43-46. Slaughter continued his superb game with another inside basket and Gavel nailed another triple to cut the deficit to 48-50. Brose missed a chance to tie the game and Ramunas Siskauskas hit a jumper and Khryapa dunked home a fine save by Shved to push the cushion back to six points – 48-54. Brose would not go away with a Tucker layup, Jenkins floater and a Jenkins to Tucker alley-oop dunk to bring the hosts within 54-55 with less than three minutes left in the third, resulting in a CSKA timeout. Khryapa answered with another big three-ball and the gap was 56-62 after a Krstic reverse layup and two Teodosic foul shots. Jenkins’s fast break layup made it 60-62 only to see Khryapa nail another triple and then Shved beat the defense back down for a layup j ust before the buzzer to give Moscow a 62-67 lead after three quarters.

Suput began the fourth quarter with a jump hook for Brose and his lay-in had the hosts within 66-67. But Andrey Vorontsevich converted a reverse layup to keep Brose at bay. The hosts however were in the bonus already with more than six minutes to play and Gavel hit two foul shots followed by Slaughter’s inside basket to give Brose the lead 70-69. Siskauskas converted a three-point play to push CSKA back ahead 70-72. Slaughter missed both free throws in a chance to tie the game and Gavel’s three attempt went in and out with four minutes to play. Moscow did not fail in their chances as Krstic converted a three-point play to give the guests a 70-75 lead. The host side would simply not die as Tucker scored and then Slaughter hit two foul shots to cut the gap to 74-75. Slaughter blocked a Siskauskas layup but watched as Jacobsen missed a wide open three-ball which would have given Brose the lead. And Krstic made two free throws to re-establish a three-point gap – 74-77. After Tucker missed two free throws, Jacobsen made two foul shots and then Tucker tipped in a miss for a 78-77 Brose lead with just more than a minute to play. Krstic split two free throws with 51 seconds left to even the game at 78-78. Roberts had the ball stolen by Khryapa and then Teodosic nailed a triple at the buzzer for the winner.