An all-Russian clash ended with another loss for Khimki and another of the Russian sides, and now clear favourite to win the Eurocup Lokomotiv Kuban kept marching on as week five of the Eurocup concluded.
Group A
Telekom Baskets Bonn edged Reggio Emila 85-84 in Italy thanks to a pair of Tadas Klimavicius free throws with 10 seconds left to win the game, but Benas Veikalas was the hero. With Reggio Emilia holding 79-67 lead, Veikalas got hot and in the remaining time hit 4 triple on as many attempts, leading the way to a huge comeback victory. Bonn improved to 3-2 in Group A, while Reggio Emilia, which held as much as a 19-point advantage in the third quarter; dropped its fourth consecutive game, and now holds 1-4 record. Veikalas finished with 18 points for the winners.
Brose Baskets had little trouble in seeing off Zaragoza 90-74 after a strong first quarter showing, which saw them take a 24-14 lead. From there, Bamberg were always in control. Josh Duncan led the Germans with 21 points.
Group B
Dijon kept the pressure on leaders Gran Canaria by pulling out a 76-79 overtime win on Wednesday. Win improved Dijon to 4- in the second place of Group B, while the Dragons dropped its record to 1-4. During the regulation, neither team led by more than 6 points, and that’s the margin Dijon had with 30 seconds to go. But the Dragons put together a 7-1 run to force the overtime. However, Dijon regained the lead in the extra session with baskets from Erwing Walker and Andre Harris, and preserved the lead. Walker scored 18 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, to lead in victory.
Cantu chalked up a maiden Eurocup win by beating Telenet Ostend 68-60. The win improved Cantu to 1-4 record, while Ostend dropped to 2-3 in a share of the third place in the Group B standings. Cantu took the lead for good in the second quarter, and held double digits margins couple of times throughout the game. But Ostend kept coming back. A late 12-1 run got the visitors to within four at 64-60, but Cantu finished the game strong on the offensive glass to secure the victory. DeQuan Jones led the way for the hosts with 18 points and 8 rebounds.
Group C
CEZ Nymburk grabbed its first road win in Group C by edging Seville 65-66 in Spain on Wednesday. Nymburk improved to 3-2 in Group C while Seville dropped to 2-3. Tre Simmons and Darius Washington paced the winners with 14 points apiece.Willy Hernangomez and Kristaps Porzingis both led Seville with 13 points.
In a thriller than went down to the final minute, Virtus Rome bounced back from its first loss in Group C by edging EWE Baskets Oldenburg 83-81 in the Italian capital on Wednesday. Rome improved to 4-1 and ties with SLUC Nancy for first place while Oldenburg dropped to 1-4. Rok Stipcevic paced the winners with 23 points, including 3 critical triples in the final 4 minutes. Jordan Morgan added 14 while Brandon Triche had 13 for Rome. Adam Chubb led Oldenburg with 18 points.
SLUC Nancy registered its third consecutive win in Group C by topping Proximus Spirou Charleroi 73-88 on the road on Wednesday. Nancy improved to 4-1 in Group C while Spirou dropped to 1-4. Darius Adams paced the winners with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Florent Pietrus added 16 points, Bandja Sy had 14, Randal Falker got 13, 8 rebounds and 5 assists while Sergii Gladyr had 12 points on 4/6 three-point shots for Nancy.
Group D
As two games in Group D were played on Tuesday, there was just one encounter, which saw Zenit Saint Petersburg beat Khimki 89-86 in an all-Russian clash. Zenit improved to 2-3, with Khimki dropping to 3-2. Khimki took the lead early in the fourth quarter, 63-65, but a 9-4 run for Zenit finished with a jumper by Evgey Valiev gave the hosts a slim margin they kept till the final buzzer thanks to their accuracy from the free throw line. Walter Hodge tallied 25 points, 9 assists and made 12 of 13 free throws to lead the winners with a performance index rating of 34, Dejan Borovnjak amassed a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, Dmitry Kulagin added 14 points and Valiev 10. Tyrese Rice scored 21 for Khimki, Marko Popovic netted 15, Paul Davis 14 and Petteri Koponen 13.
Group E
Partizan finally secured their first win of the Eurocup by downing CSU Asesoft 76-69 in Belgrade. Partizan is still at the bottom of the table with a 1-4 record, while Asesoft dropped to 3-2. Partizan used a 14-1 run in the middle of the fourth quarter to comeback from a 6-point deficit and take the lead for good, 68-61. Vanja Marinkovic was the main scorer for the winners with 19 points.
Vladimir Veremeenko led Banvit to victory on what was also a historic night for his career. The big man amassed 22 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals as Banvit bested Krasny Volgograd 90-75. The rebounds give him 476 for his Eurocup career, which takes him past Andre Riddick to become the competition’s all-time leader. Veremeenko was active throughout. He grabbed the record-breaking rebound early in the third quarter and scored several key baskets to keep Banvit in the game as it traded shots with the visitors. He later made a pair of three in a 12-0 game-clinching charge in the fourth quarter.
In a clash of two former Eurocup champions, Lietuvos Rytas topped Hapoel Jerusalem on the road 70-81. Rytas improved to 4-1 in a share of the first place of Group E, while Jerusalem dropped to 1-4. The visitors took control in the first quarter, taking the lead for good with a 15-4 spurt that bridged the first and second quarter and gave them 14-24 lead. Rytas sank 13 three-pointers during the first 35 minutes, keeping the advantage in the double digits. The margin reached 19 points in the fourth quarter before Jerusalem, which shot 0 of 6 from downtown for the game, used a late rally to and close the gap. Gediminas Orelik netted 16 points, Adas Juskevicius and Antanas Kavaliauskas scored 13 apiece, and Billy Baron scored 12 on 4/5 three-point shooting in victory. Donta Smith had 23 points and 6 assists for the hosts.
Group F
Lokomotiv Kuban remains unbeaten at 5-0 after a one-sided second quarter led them to a 75-63 win over Kairisyaka Izmir. Trailing 21-20 after the first ten minutes Lokomotiv then used a 19-4 second quarter to build a comfortable 39-25 advantage at half-time and never looked back. Malcolm Delaney contributed with 19 points, Anthony Randolph posted 17 points and 9 rebounds for an index rating of 30 points and Derrick Brown and Krunoslav Simon scored 10 each in victory. Jon Diebler of Karsiyaka led all the scorers with 24 points.
PAOK routed Buducnost 80-60 to remain perfect at home and take another step on the way to advancing to the next round from Group F. PAOK has a 4-1 record and is second place in the group, while Buducnost dropped to 1-4. The home team dominated the game after an early advantage for the visitors, building a comfortable 42-25 advantage at halftime and then sealing the victory with a 13-2 run to open the third quarter. Marc Carter led the way with 19 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Ventspils ended a three-game losing streak in Group F and picked up its first road win by defeating winless Stelmet Zielona Gora 69-79. Mire Chatman starred with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists as Ventspils improved to 2-3 to keep a share of fourth place in the group.
Written by John Hobbs. Eurocupbasketball.com contributed to this report.
