With every game of extreme significance in the Last 32 stage, six teams stepped up with important road wins to give themselves a leg up on the competition. Through two rounds, only six teams have 2-0 records. Two of those teams, Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Unics Kazan, will square off next week. Additionally, drama will only build in three groups where all four teams have 1-1 records.
Group G
The home teams took care of business in front of their fans to leave all four teams tied with 1-1 records. In a big battle that went down to the wire, Dinamo Banco Di Sardegna Sassari edged Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul 79-74. Galatasaray entered the final quarter with a 55-59 edge, but Rok Stipcevic took over. Galatasaray was within 70-68 late before a big triple by David Logan sealed the outcome. MarQuez Haynes and Logan led the winners with 19 points apiece, while Stipcevic scored all of his 14 points in the final 13 minutes. Blake Schilb led Galatasaray with 25 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting. CAI Zaragoza thrashed Szolnoki Olaj 88-60 to grab its first win of the Last 32. CAI, which outrebounded the visitors 42-22, already led 27-11 after 10 minutes, and held a 53-27 margin at halftime. Isaac Fotu led the winners with 20 points.
Group H
In a game that went down to the final shot, Strasbourg held off Avtodor Saratov 77-74 on Wednesday night. Strasbourg improved to 2-0 to take sole possession of first place despite being outrebounded 34-54, and allowing the visitors to pull down 22 offensive rebounds. The hosts used their defense against Avtodor’s top-ranked offense to take control of the game, before pulling away to 54-38 midway through the third quarter. Strasbourg was still up by 16 points in the fourth, but Avtodor rallied to within 65-63. Matt Howard and Mardy Collins made sure Strasbourg never relinquished the lead. Collins led Strasbourg with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Howard collected 14 points plus 9 rebounds. Travis Peterson amassed 21 points and 12 rebounds for Avtodor, while Jeremy Chappell had 19 points and 6 assists. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas pounded Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 64-75 in the Israeli capital to pick up its first win of the stage. The game wasn’t even as close as the final score would indicate; The visitors hit 4 three-pointers in a 3-18 second-quarter run to take control and stretched their lead to 24 in the third quarter. Sasu Salin made 5 of 9 three-pointers for 20 points and Albert Oliver connected on 4 of 6 shots from downtown en route to 18 points and 5 assists for the winners.
Group I
Undefeated Valencia Basket beat EWE Baskets Oldenburg 89-108 on the road on Wednesday. Valencia hit 14 triples from 23 attempts and cruised to its 12th consecutive Eurocup victory, while improving to 2-0 and taking sole possession of first place in Group I. Valencia used a 0-12 second quarter run to take the lead for good, before pulling away to a comfortable double-digit lead in the third as Antoine Diot paced six Valencia scorers in double-digits with 25 points plus 8 assists. A day earlier, PAOK Thessaloniki overpowered Limoges CSP 88-75. Sofoklis Schortsanitis led the way with 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting and Nikola Markovic posted 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals for PAOK, which improved to 1-1 and a share of second place in the group. Limoges fell to 0-2. After Heiko Schaffartzik sank 3 three-pointers early in the second half to help Limoges cut an 11-point halftime deficit to 2, PAOK used a 17-2 charge that bridged the third and fourth quarters and featured three-pointers by four different players to lead 77-59 and the hosts cruised the rest of the way.
Group J
Four teams are all tied with 1-1 record after two rounds in Group J. In just its second Eurocup game after starting the season in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague, EA7 Emporio Armani Milan destroyed Aris Thessaloniki 95-54 at Mediolanum Forum on Tuesday in what was the second-largest margin of victory in Last 32 history. Milan already led after one quarter, but used a 20-0 march to start the second quarter to put the game out of reach and later scored 15 unanswered points to start the fourth quarter in building a lead that peaked at 48. Milan Macvan led six Milan scorers in double figures with 16 points and Oliver Lafayette amassed 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. On Wednesday, Neptunas Klaipeda downed ALBA Berlin 73-65 in a battle decided in the fourth quarter. The hosts opened the game with a 12-0 run, but Will Cherry led a 0-15 third-quarter charge that got ALBA in front 40-43. Teams stayed close until the fourth quarter when an 11-0 Neptunas push decided the outcome. Arnas Butkevicius led the winners with 18 points.
Group K
All four teams hold 1-1 records in Group K, too, after the home took victories in a pair of Italian-Turkish clashes on Wednesday. In its first-ever Last 32 home game, Trabzonspor Medical Park routed Dolomiti Energia Trento 92-70 forits first-ever Last 32 win. Trabzonspor hit 9 of its 12 three-pointers in the first half, and behind Damian Kulig and Dwight Hardy went on a 22-3 spurt that bridged the first and second quarters, opening up a 30-17 lead and taking control. The margin was as big as 19 points before halftime, and broke the 20-point barrier in the third quarter. Hardy netted 23 points and dished 9 assists, while Kulig finished with 20 points. Pietro Aradori scored 17 of his 22 points in the third quarter as Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia downed Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir 88-81. Darjus Lavrinovic added 13 points for the winners, who used Aradori’s run after halftime to grab a 58-44 lead and the hosts kept control until the final buzzer.
Group L
Zenit St Petersburg outlasted MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 83-80 to take over sole possession of first place. Zenit went up 55-45 early in the third quarter, but Ludwigsburg never went away. The visitors closed within a single point in the final minutes, but Zenit blocked 3 shots and forced 3 turnovers, which allowed Ryan Toolson’s free throws to seal the victory. Zab Dowdell paced Zenit with 19 points and 6 assists, while Mustafa Shakur led the visitors with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Behind a big all-round game from Mike Green, Umana Reyer Venice downed Stelmet Zielona Gora 83-92 to grab its first-ever Eurocup Last 32 victory. Green led the way with 24 points, 7 rebounds and 11 assists, and Josh Owens added 15 points for Venice, which took control late in the third quarter with five different players hitting a three-pointer. The hosts came within 72-77 in the fourth quarter, but Venice held them off down the stretch.
Group M
Group M is headed for a clash next week after the two Round 2 winners improved to 2-0. Unics Kazan held off Union Olimpija Ljubljana 83-89. After the hosts rallied to take the lead in the fourth quarter, Quino Colom stepped up with 10 straight points to put Unics back in charge. He later added 4 from the free throw line without a miss to help secure the victory. Colom finished another outstanding effort with 23 points, 10 assists and 5 steals, while Keith Langford led Unics with 27 points and 8 rebounds. Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv edged Nizhny Novgorod 83-87 on the road. Taylor Rochestie led the way with 17 points against his former team and Trevor Mbakwe added a double-double as the visitors held on late. The final 20 seconds decided the game; after Devin Smith put Maccabi up 3, the two teams combined to miss 3 free throws and commit 2 turnovers before Sylven Landesberg iced the game from the free throw line.
Group N
The home teams took care of business in front of their fans to leave all four teams tied with 1-1 records. In a big battle that went down to the wire, Dinamo Banco Di Sardegna Sassari edged Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul 79-74. Galatasaray entered the final quarter with a 55-59 edge, but Rok Stipcevic took over. Galatasaray was within 70-68 late before a big triple by David Logan sealed the outcome. MarQuez Haynes and Logan led the winners with 19 points apiece, while Stipcevic scored all of his 14 points in the final 13 minutes. Blake Schilb led Galatasaray with 25 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting. CAI Zaragoza thrashed Szolnoki Olaj 88-60 to grab its first win of the Last 32. CAI, which outrebounded the visitors 42-22, already led 27-11 after 10 minutes, and held a 53-27 margin at halftime. Isaac Fotu led the winners with 20 points.
Source: Eurocup
