Intro:

There was a surprise road victory for Partizan NIS Belgrade in Istanbul on Thursday (12th December) as week 9 got underway in European Basketball's Euroleague.

Script:

Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul had the chance to win Euroleague Group A if they beat Partizan Belgrade but it didn't work out like that for the five-time Turkish champions.

Visiting Belgrade record Thursday's sole away win, by 79 points to 77.

Despite the defeat, Fenerbahce remain in first place.

Partizan started brightly, making their first 11 field goal attempts - including five triples - to build a 28-12 lead.

Six-time European champions CSKA Moscow enjoyed a more comfortable night, beating FC Barcelona 79-65.

CSKA and Barcelona are now tied for second place in the group and CSKA will have the tiebreak advantage if the teams remain level at the end of the regular season, because they lost by fewer points when the teams met last month in Barcelona.

In Group B, Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas boosted their Top 16 chances with a 65-63 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul.

The result put the teams level in the standings at 4-5.

In Group C, defending Euroleague champions Olympiacos were forced to come back from a 15-point third-quarter deficit to maintain their 100 per cent record.

Visiting Montepaschi Siena were unfortunate to go home with nothing after a 78-73 loss.

Elsewhere in group C, Unicaja Malaga versus Bayern Munich went down to the final minute before Malaga came out on top 77-72.

Unicaja will advance to the Top 16 if they can beat Montepaschi next week, but they could also go through with a defeat if other results go their way.

Bayern slipped to 3-6, but their chances of reaching the Top 16 are not over yet.

In Group D, Telekom Belgrade led from start to finish in their final home game in the Euroleague to blow away Spain's Laboral Kutxa Vitoria 81-65.

Laboral have already qualified for the Top 16.

Also in Group D, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv came back from a 14-point first quarter deficit to hold off Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 78-71 at the Nokia Arena.

Playing in their first Euroleague game since the firing of Dirk Bauermann as coach, Vilnius drop to 1-8.