Basketball-Barcelona sink Panathinaikos, Cedevita stun Anadolu Efes

By Zoran Milosavljevic BELGRADE, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Twice former Euroleague winners Barcelona brushed aside fellow heavyweights Panathinaikos 77-52 while Croatians Cedevita Zagreb enjoyed a shock 81-75 win at Anadolu Efes Istanbul on Thursday. CSKA Moscow scraped an 83-77 home victory against Germans Brose Baskets Bamberg and Spanish side Laboral Kutxa Vitoria eased to a 107-71 away rout of French rivals Limoges. Barcelona were criticised after an opening defeat by Turkish debutants Karsiyaka Izmir and followed that with an unimpressive home win over Poles Stelmet Zielona Gora. They proved their title credentials, however, with an effervescent display against six-time champions Panathinaikos. "It was a good performance, especially in defence, and we are very happy to have treated our fans to an emphatic win against a great team," Barcelona coach Xavi Pasqual told Euroleague television. Their Greek forward Stratos Perperoglu added: "It's a big win. We were focused the whole game and are looking forward to the upcoming challenges." Forward Justin Doellman led a finely balanced Barcelona roster with 13 points, with Alex Abrines, Perperoglu and centre Ante Tomic netting 11 each. Having failed to reach the second group stage in each of their previous two Euroleague seasons, Cedevita showed they could punch well above their weight after centre Miro Bilan scored 20 points and American guard Jacob Pullen chipped in with 18. "This was a great win for our young team and it will give us confidence for the future," Cedevita forward Luka Babic said. "We came to Istanbul after four successive defeats in the Euroleague and the Adriatic League, so winning here was the ideal scenario," added the Croatian side's coach Veljko Mrsic. CSKA trailed Bamberg in the closing stages of a see-saw battle but pulled through thanks to their French guard Nando de Colo, who racked up 22 points and seven assists. Serbia playmaker Milos Teodosic added 18 points as the Russian giants stretched their perfect start to three wins. Elsewhere, Lithuanians Zalgiris Kaunas ground out a 68-66 success at Karsiyaka and Maccabi Tel Aviv strolled to a 79-63 home win against Italians Dinamo Sassari. Holders Real Madrid visit Fenerbahce Istanbul in Friday's stand-out fixture, with the Turkish side eager to avenge last season's semi-final defeat in the Spanish capital. (Editing by Toby Davis)