Madrid pulls away to seize first place from CSKA

With a display of relentless offense that finally buried the best defense in the competition, Real Madrid defeated CSKA Moscow 93-79 on Thursday to take over first place in Top 16 Group F. Both teams are tied with 9-2 records and 14-point wins against each other, but Madrid has beaten the rest of the group by 4 points more than CSKA - so far. Despite 8 ties and 17 lead changes in the first three quarters, Madrid didn't commit a turnover until the fourth had started and its total of 2 at the end of the game was a new Euroleague record. Rudy Fernandez scored a career-high 28 points to go with 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists to lead Madrid through comeback try after comeback try by CSKA. Nikola Mirotic added 15 points, including the crucial final free throws that let Madrid match the difference from its earlier 14-point loss in Moscow. Sergio Llull, Ioannis Bourousis and Sergio Rodriguez each scored 10 more for the winners, who made 26 of 31 free throws, as compared to 10 of 16 for CSKA. The visitors had their own star scorer in Sonny Weems, who drilled 28 points to go with 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Nenad Krstic had 14 more points and Jeremy Pargo 10 for the visitors, who were missing injured point guard Milos Teodosic, just as Madrid missed sharpshooter Jaycee Carroll.