The Opening round of the new 7DAYS EuroCup season is in the books. Seven home winners on Wednesday included a pair of newcomers registering their first ever EuroCup victories, while the lone road warrior was former champion Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar.
Group A
Donatas Tarolis beat the buzzer with a put-back for newcomer Lietkabelis Panevezys to edge MZT Skopje Aerodrom 90-89 in the EuroCup opener. Lietkabelis led by as many as 68-45 in the third quarter but MZT fought back and took the lead on a Stefan Sinovec triple with three seconds to go. After a timeout, however, there was enough time for the hosts to preserve victory. Veteran Ksistof Lavrinovic paced Lietkabelis with 18 points, and Tarolis finished with 17 points and 7 rebounds, while Sinovec had 20 points for the visitors. In the later game in the group, Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas routed depleted Cedevita Zagreb 101-76 behind 25 points on 5-for-9 three points shooting from Kyle Kuric. Scotty Hopson netted 23 points in defeat.
Group B
In a battle of two former champions, Khimki Moscow Region pulled out a close-fought 76-71 win over Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius. It was a game of runs, in both halves. Rytas made 0-9 run to go up 43-49 in the third, only for Khimki to respond with 16 unanswered points to take a 10-point lead. The teams stayed close until the end but Marko Todorovic and Jacob Pullen helped Khimki seal the deal. Drew Gordon registered a double-double of 21 points and 14 rebounds for Rytas. In Germany, Elmedin Kikanovic scored 25 points and his baskets late in the game helped ALBA Berlin hold off Montakit Fuenlabrada, 88-81. Veteran Marko Popovic paced the visitors with 17 points in less than 14 minutes off the bench.
Group C
In the group opener, Zenit St. Petersburg made a winning start by edging FC Bayern Munich 80-77. Zenit had a strong start and a 16-point lead in the second quarter, before Bayern caught up by the end of the third quarter. The game went down to the wire, but Zenit held the visitors scoreless for 3 minutes late in the game and survived at the end. Janis Timmas paced the winners with 20 points, and Sergey Karasev netted 16. Bayern’s Devin Booker had a monster night with 27 points on 13-for17 two-point shooting, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Newcomer UCAM Murcia held off Buducnost VOLI Podgorica 86-77 to register its first-ever EuroCup win. Murcia hit 12 triples on the night, and had Vitor Benite led the way with 14 points. Buducnost kept it close throughout the night, with Boris Savovic hitting 5-for-9 from three-point land for Buducnost, and collecting 22 points and 11 rebounds. The game went down to the last minute, when Murcia prevailed.
Group D
A pair of former champions had winning starts in Group D. Valencia Basket routed ratiopharm Ulm 95-58, making a statement on the opening night of the new EuroCup season. The dominant hosts, who saw all 12 players score, took control early and increased the margin quickly, as Bojan Dubljevic paced the winners with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals. Valencia improved its all-time home EuroCup record to 37-1. Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar made a strong start with a 64-72 road win at Union Olimpija Ljubljana. Lokomotiv also extended its road-winning streak to 14 games. The hosts played tough despite trailing for most of the night. Olimpija came within a single possession in the fourth quarter before Lokomotiv pulled away and closed the game out. Kenny Gabriel led the way for the winners, scoring 17 points.
