Dynamo struggle through
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ByEurosport
Published 21/03/2007 at 18:51 GMT
Dynamo Moscow overcame Benetton Treviso 68-65 in a dramatic overtime Top 16 finale to advance to the Euroleague quarter-finals and send the visitors packing thanks to a brilliant performance from Greek duo Lazaros Papadopoulos and Antonios Fotsis.
BASKETBALL 2006-2007 Euroleague Antonis Fotsis Dynamo Moscow Greece
Image credit: Imago
In a battle for the final Top 16 spot in Group G the visitors led the hosts 35-23 at half-time before Dynamo came charging back on a 13-0 run to start the third period.
Treviso went scoreless for the first six minutes of the third quarter before Nikolaos Zizis hit a three-pointer to get the visitors back on the board before the third ultimately ended 43-43.
Zisis finished the night with 11 points, but it was his Greece team-mates and Dynamo rivals Papadopoulos and Fotsis who starred on Wednesday.
Fotsis finished the night with a phenomenal double-double scoring 22 points and a snatching a Euroleague record 24 rebounds, while Papadopoulos led all scorers with 24 points on top of his 11 rebounds.
Fotsis played the key role in a dramatic climax to regulation, with a critical tip in of a Papadopoulos miss to draw Dynamo within one with under a minute to play.
Fotsis then grabbed another board on the defensive end, before drawing a foul to head to the line with a chance to give the hosts the win.
The Greek big-man hit the first and missed the second, but grabbed his own rebound, though Dynamo could do nothing with the final possession and the game was sent to overtime.
With Dynamo leading by a point with eight seconds left in overtime, two Benetton players trapped Taquan Dean in the corner of back-court forcing a five-second violation after the hosts were unable to get the ball over the half-court line.
But Papadopoulos stole the ball from Bojan Popovic then drew the late foul from Preston Shumpert to seal Benetton's fate with 0.4 seconds left on the clock.
Papadopoulos' final two free throws were fairly unimportant, but extended Dynamo's winning margin to three-points as Benetton did not even get off a final shot.
Dynamo will now face Panathinaikos in the quarter-finals.
Elsewhere, Barcelona crushed Group F top seed Panathinaikos 87-66 in an inconsequential finale as both teams had already booked their places in the quarter-finals.
Barca will face Spanish rivals Unicaja Malaga, who were thumped by hosts Aris Thessaloniki 83-65 in another meaningless Top 16 finale.
Efes Istanbul, meanwhile, salvaged a 64-72 road-win against Sopot to end their Euroleague campaign on a high-note as neither club goes through to the quarter-finals.
Follow LIVE coverage of Thursday's Top 16 finale on www.eurosport.com with one quarter-final spot still to be decided.
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