Road wins for FC Bayern Munich, Unics Kazan and Zenit St. Petersburg saw them join Strasbourg as the lone undefeated teams midway through the Last 32. Banvit Bandirma, Nizhny Novgorod and Dolomiti Energia Trento also won away games as half of the Round 3 games went to road warriors. Much drama is still on tap as next week could see the first teams advance to the elimination rounds!
Group G
A pair of free throws from Bryce Taylor with 1 second left gave FC Bayern Munich a 76-78 road victory over Dominion Bilbao Basket. Alex Renfroe led Bayern with 16 points and 8 rebounds as Bayern improved to 3-0 in the group. Dairis Bertans nailed 6 three-pointers for 27 points for Dominion BB. Banvit Bandirma beat ratiopharm Ulm 80-92 for an important road victory. Dominique Johnson hit 5 of Banvit’s 10 three-pointers in scoring a team-high 23 points to help Banvit improve to 2-1 in the group. Courtney Fortson collected 18 points and 11 assists, while Adrien Moerman scored 21 points for the winners. Ulm dropped to 0-3 in the group with its third straight home defeat dating back to Round 5 of the regular season.
Group H
Kyle Weems came alive late as Strasbourg outlasted Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 75-71 to remain undefeated in the Last 32. The game was tied with a minute to go when E.J. Rowland split free throws to put Jerusalem ahead, but Weems responded with a go-ahead three and the Strasbourg defense got the job done after that. Mardy Collins, whose 2 free throws iced the game, led the way for Strasbourg with 14 points. Rowland scored 20 for Jerusalem. Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas routed Avtodor Saratov 101-77. Alen Omic had 18 points and 9 rebounds to pace Gran Canaria, which improved to 2-1. Brad Newley added 17 points and Albert Oliver dished 11 assists. Jeremy Chappell scored 14 points for Avtodor.
Group I
In new head coach Dusko Vujosevic’s first game on its bench, Limoges CSP stunned Valencia Basket 72-92 on Tuesday. Valencia had been the lone undefeated team in major European basketball this season with 28 victories in both the Eurocup and Spanish League to start the season. With the game tied at 54-54 late in the third quarter, Limoges’s defense denied the hosts a field goal for over seven minutes, in which time it soared to a 61-78 advantage and never looked back. Nobel Boungou-Colo scored 23 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting to lead Limoges, which used its great three-point accuracy to overcome 18 turnovers. EWE Baskets Oldenburg stopped PAOK Thessaloniki 68-81 on the road to join Valenca in first. Chris Kramer starred with 8 steals to set a new Last 32 record, which had been 6 and was shared by three players, including Vangelis Margaritis of PAOK. The competition record for steals in a game is 11 by two players. Kramer added 12 points and 5 assists in a splendid all-around effort. Brian Qvale scored 15 for Oldenburg and Vaughn Duggins tallied 11 points and 7 assists. The visitors used runs of 2-12 and 0-11 in the second quarter to take a commanding 28-43 halftime lead and coasted the rest of the way.
Group J
Dragan Milosavljevic came within 1 assist of a triple double as ALBA Berlin outlasted Aris Thessaloniki 82-67 at Mercedes-Benz Arena, home of the 2016 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Final Four, on Tuesday. Milosavljevic collected 16 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists and Elmedin Kikanovic added 22 points for the hosts. The game entered the fourth quarter tied at 58-58, but ALBA went on an 18-3 run to claim the victory. Dominic Waters and Jerel McNeal scored 20 points apiece for Aris in defeat. EA7 Emporio Armani Milan defeated Neptunas Klaipeda 79-71 in the fashion capital. Neptunas led by 1 entering the final stanza, but Jamel McLean led Milan on a 12-2 run to take control and Krunoslav Simon made it stand up as the home team rolled to victory. McLean finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals and Simon tallied 15 points and 5 assists for the winners. Jerai Grant collected 15 points and 12 rebounds for Neptunas. The home teams have won every Group J game thus far.
Group K
Trabzonspor Medical Park and Dolomiti Energia Trento registered respective wins to get to 2-1 in Group K. Trento downed Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir 79-85 to become the first – and so far only – team to record a road win in the group. Julian Wright led the winners with 26 points on 11-of-13 two-point shooting, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks. Davide Pascolo added 16 points and 8 rebounds for Trento. Bracey Wright led Karsiyaka with 26 points and 7 assists. Karsiyaka kept its chances alive until the final minute, in which back-to-back baskets by Pascolo and Wright sealed the outcome. After trailing by as many as 14 points, Trabzonspor rallied past Grissin Bon Reggio Emilia 82-76 behind 20 points from Dwight Hardy. Amedeo Della Valle led Reggio Emilia with 18 points. Reggio Emilia led 17-31 after 10 minutes and 44-54 soon after the break but a 10-0 run brought the hosts back to life and an outstanding Hardy led another 11-0 run that pushed Trabzonspor to its second win.
Group L
Zenit St. Petersburg defeated Stelmet Zielona Gora 76-90 to leave itself sitting petty atop the group standings. Ryan Toolson led the way with 20 points and Janis Timma added 19 points for Zenit, which improved to 3-0 in the group. The visitors used a 0-12 first-quarter run to take a 7-18 lead and never looked back. Dejan Borovnjak poured in 17 points in the loss for Zielona Gora, which dropped to 1-2 in the group. MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg downed Umana Reyer Venice 94-84 for the first Last 32 victory in club history. Tekele Cotton led the winners with 17 points and Jon Brockman added 16 on 8-of-10 two-point shooting. Josh Owens led Venice with 17 points on 8-of-8 two-point shooting. Mike Green added 16. Venice led by 1 at halftime and remained ahead throughout the third quarter until the hosts found a go-to guy in Jason Boone, who had 6 unanswered points to give his team a 66-64 edge after 30 minutes. Cotton and Kerron Johnson took over early in the fourth quarter to boost Ludwigsburg’s lead to 80-73 and a three-pointer by Cotton sealed the outcome.
Group M
Keith Langford returned to his former home and torched his former club for 30 points as Unics Kazan dumped Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv 82-92 at Menora Mivtachim Arena to take sole possession of first place in Group M with a 3-0 record. Langford provided a spark with 10 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter as the visitors took the lead for good. It was still a 3-point game entering the fourth, but the Unics defense held Maccabi without a basket for four minutes and Latavious Williams scored twice on the offensive glass to build a double-digit advantage and Maccabi never recovered. Unics outrebounded Maccabi 27-45, including 18 offensive rebounds. Williams finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Vladimir Ivlev scored 6 points in a 0-8 fourth-quarter run as Nizhny Novgorod pulled away to beat Union Olimpija Ljubljana 73-79. The visitors started the game on a 2-14 tear and led by as many as 15 in the first half. Olimpija rallied back in the third quarter, but never took the lead. However Sava Lesic scored 7 straight points in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 68-68. Nizhny did not panic and Ivlev took charge to put the visitors back on the path to victory.
Group N
The home teams won easily in Group N. Galatasaray Odeabank Istanbul blew out Szolnoki Olaj 87-59. The game was essentially decided after an 18-0 run in the first quarter helped the hosts build a 20-point lead after 10 minutes. The visitors never got closer than 13 the rest of the way with the lead peaking at 31 in the fourth quarter. Blake Schilb scored 24 points on 4-of-4 shooting from downtown and Stephane Lase posted 20 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks in improving Galatasaray’s record to 2-1. CAI Zaragoza overpowered Dinamo Banco Di Sardegna Sassari 87-75. The hosts outrebounded Sassari 44-22, including 17 offensive rebounds, in improving to 2-1. Stevan Jelovac paced the winners with 21 points and Joan Sastre, Viacheslav Kravtsov and Isaac Fotu netted 12 points apiece.
