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Towers close to Moscow scalp             CSKA Moscow won Monday evening's NEBL clash 90-93 against London Towers but the BBL side came within a whisker of knocking off the league high-flyers after a close-fought and exciting encounter. "I thought the game was there to be won tonight," admitted Towers coach Nick Nurse. "We had our opportunities and I don't think we took them. We had a bunch of silly little plays there - rebounding and turnovers. We'd steal the ball and give it right back to them. You look back at our nine missed free throws and that hurt us too."  The Russians started the quicker, jumping out to a 19-9 lead with 4:14 gone in the first, but Towers countered with a 14-3 run to get back on terms and take a 25-22 at the end of the period. Towers' Steve Bucknall and CSKA's Igor Koudelin put on a long range show in the second quarter with both players draining three 3-pointers each, with CSKA regaining the advantage to lead 51-48 at the break. Nikita Morgunov of CSKA dominated during the third, putting up 12 points personal, and his side were unable to capitalise as Towers trailed by just four heading into the final quarter at 71-75. The Russians looked to break the game open early in the fourth, as they led 89-79 with just over five minuted to play, but Towers refused to lie down and clawed their way back.  Towers' Kendrick Warren - scorer of  game-high 29 points - nailed two free throws and then hit a 3-pointer with 51.3 seconds left to reduce the CSKA lead to 90-93, and Towers had a last-gasp shot to tie the game, which fell short and the NEBL champions took the win. CSKA Moscow Coach Valery Tikonenko was delighted to have escaped with the points. "The main thing was that we got the victory, but the quality of the play wasn't very good," he said. "A team such as ours shouldn't make 20 turnovers. It's important that we get another player back for the Panathaniakos game in two days."  Alanovic and Mogunov hit 20 for Moscow.

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