The Last 32 concluded with the remaining eighthfinals tickets claimed. Banvit Bandirma, FoxTown Cantu Paris Levallois and Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius, Zenit St. Peterberg and Unics Kazan all advanced. Virtus Rome won Group I thanks to some help from Krasny Oktyabr, which beat Cedevita, and Khimki Moscow Region clinched first in Group J. It was a wild week with 11 of the 16 games being won by the road teams. Now all eyes turn to the eigthfinals, whose matchups are listed below.
Eurocup Eighthfinals
Eighthfinal A: Unics Kazan (G1) vs. FoxTown Cantu (J2)
Eighthfinal B: Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas (H1) vs. Cedevita Zagreb (I2)
Eighthfinal C: Virtus Rome (I1) vs. Banvit Bandirma (H2)
Eighthfinal D: Khimki Moscow Region (J1) vs. Zenit St.Petersburg (G2)
Eighthfinal E: FC Bayern Munich (K1) vs. Valencia Basket (N2)
Eighthfinal F: PGE Turow Zgorzelec (L1) vs. Paris Levallois (M2)
Eighthfinal G: Pinar Karsiyaka (M1) vs. Lietuvos Rytas (L2)
Eighthfinal H: Lokomotiv Kuban (N1) vs. Brose Baskets Bamberg (K2)
Group G
Unics Kazan and Zenit St. Petersburg claimed the top two spots in the group with Tuesday victories. Unics Kazan held off CEZ Basketball Nymburk 79-84 behind 24 points from Keith Langford. D’Or Fischer added 17 for the winners, whose 4-2 record was best in the group. Darius Washington tallied 14 points and 9 assists for Nymburk, which finished fourth at 2-4. Zenit St. Petersburg bested Strasbourg 61-73. The result left both Zenit and Strasbourg with 3-3 records, but Zenit finished second because it beat Strasbourg twice. Zenit will meet Khimki Moscow Region in the eighthfinals. Kyle Landry scored 15 points and Walter Hodge tallied 13 points, 7 assists and 5 steals to lead Zenit, which used a 0-11 run that bridged the first and second quarters to take the lead for good. It led 28-35 at halftime and further boosted the lead by holding Strasbourg to just 9 third-quarter points as it pulled away.
Group H
In a clash for second place, Banvit Bandirma ran over Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 72-89 to clinch a ticket to the eighthfinals, where it will face Virtus Roma. The difference was made with a 0-16 Banvit run that began midway through the second quarter. The visitors led 34-50 at halftime and Sassari never got closer than 9 the rest of the night. Sammy Mejia paced the winners with 16 points and 8 assists. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas outlasted Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 83-88 for its third straight Last 32 victory to head into the eighthfinals in form. Gran Canaria, which finished Group H with a 5-1 mark, had already clinched first place in the group last week. The game was close throughout; it was tied with four minutes to go and the hosts trailed by just 1 with a minute remaining, but Buducnost did not score on its final possessions and Gran Canaria secured the victory. Walter Tavares totaled 16 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks and Levon Kendall also scored 16 for Granca.
Group I
Virtus Rome topped CAI Zaragoza 87-66 to remain perfect at home and claim first place in Group I on Wednesday. Rome improved to 4-2, but needed help to reach the first place and it got just that when Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd downed Cedevita Zagreb 92-101 in the Croatian capital. Rome will face Banvit Bandirma in the eighthfinals, while Cedevita plays Group H winner Herbalife Gran Canaria. Rome took control with a 13-2 run in the first quarter, and finished the job with a 13-2 run at the end of the third. It opened up 68-50 lead, paving the way to victory in which Rok Stipcevic had 20 points and 5 assists, while Kyle Gibson netted 17 on 5-of-6 three-point shooting. Krasny Oktyabr Volgograd finished its maiden Eurocup campaign in style with a 3-3 record and the third place, while Cedevita dropped to 4-2 and second place. Oktyabr led for essentially entire game against Cedevita behind 30 points from Randy Culpepper and 19 from Cuthbert Victor. Donnie McGrath and Romeo Travis each scored 17 in victory.
Group J
First place in the group was decided when Khimki Moscow Region defeated Limoges CSP 72-86 on the road Tuesday. Khimki improved to 5-1 as Tyrese Rice scored 18 points and dished 6 assists, while Paul Davis added 14 points for Khimki, which will face Zenit St. Petersburg in the eighthfinals. Nobel Boungou-Colo had 17 points for Limoges which found itself eliminated on Wednesday after FoxTown Cantu defeated previously-eliminated PAOK Thessaloniki 78-70. Cantu needed to win by 3 or more points, and after trailing 37-42 at halftime, Cantu used a strong finish to the third quarter, a 9-0 run for 58-55 lead it never relinquished. A 10-0 fourth quarter run, capped by a triple from Ivan Buva, sealed the deal. Darius Johnson-Odom scored 21 points to lead Cantu, which faces Unics Kazan in the eighthfinals.
Group K
In an all-German showdown, FC Bayern Munich beat Brose Baskets Bamberg 87-63 at home to stay undefeated in the 2014-15 Eurocup and finish the Last 32 with a 6-0 record. Bayern, which will play reigning champ Valencia Basket in the eighthfinals, has the best Last 32 record in the entire competition (6-0, + 97), which gives it the home-court advantage in all elimination rounds it plays from now on. A 10-0 run in the second quarter helped open 38-19 margin, and Bayern cruised to victory as Dusko Savanovic and John Bryant led the winners with 15 points apiece. Bamberg is second in the group and faces 2013 champion Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the next round. Erving Walker hit a game-winning three-pointer at buzzer as JDA Dijon edged Union Olimpija Ljubljana 73-76. Kris Joseph led the winners with 15 points and Walker finished with 11 for Dijon which ends its first-ever Eurocup campaign with a 2-4 record in the Last 32 and third place in Group K.
Group L
Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius crushed Telenet Ostend 111-83 in a do-or-die game to earn a ticket to the eighthfinals and a clash with Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir. Rytas finished the Last 32 with 3-3 record, while Ostend ended its campaign with a 2-4 record after dropping its last four games. Rytas used an early 23-7 run to take a comfortable advantage, and held a 61-40 halftime lead before cruising to victory in the second half. Gediminas Orelik led the way by with 19 points, while Martynas Gecevicius chipped in 18 points and 7 assists in victory. In the last game of the group, PGE Turow Zgorzelec routed Baloncesto Seville 76-97 for its fifth straight win. It improved to 5-1 and finished Group L in first place behind Damian Kulig’s 23 points and 8 rebounds. Chris Wright added 21 points while Nemanja Jaramaz collected 12 points plus 11 boards for Turow, which next faces Paris Levallois in the eighthfinals.
Group M
In a winner-takes-all showdown in Istanbul, visiting Paris-Levallois held off Besiktas Integral Forex 71-77 behind a monster performance from Sharrod Ford and clutch plays from Blake Schilb. Paris, which finished the Last 32 with 3-3 record, took the lead for good early in the third quarter and held on with Ford amassing 35 points and 11 rebounds, while Schilb hit two clutch triples in the final three minutes to finish with 11 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Paris next faces Group L winner PGE Turow Zgorzelec in the eighthfinals. Group M winner Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir downed already-eliminated Neptunas Klaipeda 83-90 to complete its perfect Last 32 campaign. In another good offensive performance, Karsiyaka dished 23 assists and reached 90 points once again by finishing the game on a 0-7 run to pull away to victory. Juan Palacios had 19 points and 8 rebounds to lead Karsiyaka to its sixth Last 32 win.
Group N
Derrick Brown hit a layup high off the glass with 4.2 seconds to go, lifting Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar to 89-90 road win at Valencia Basket. It was a clash of the last two Eurocup champions after which Lokomotiv extended its best-ever Eurocup winning streak to 17 games. The hosts led 39-26 in the first half, but Lokomotiv caught up early in the third quarter and the game went down to the wire. A three-point play from Bojan Dubljevic gave Valencia 89-88 with 9.4 seconds remaining, however, after a timeout, Brown – who finished with 10 points – drove to the basket for a tough layup, keeping Lokomotiv’s perfect season alive. Malcolm Delaney hit 4 of 5 triples for 23 points and Anthony Randolph scored 20 in victory. Lokomotiv moves on to face Brose Baskets Bamberg in the eighthfinals, while second-placed Valencia finishes the Last 32 with 3-3 record, and will play Bayern Munich in the next phase. In a clash of two eliminated teams, CSU Asesoft Ploiesti beat SLUC Nancy 88-81, and completed its Last 32 campaign with a victory. Asesoft used a closing 12-2 run to gain the victory as Alhaji Mohammed led the way with 21 points.
Source: Eurocup
