Round 5 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Top 16 saw three more teams, among them a pair of former competition winners, advance to the next phase of the competition with victories. Two-time winner Khimki Moscow Region and 2004 champion Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem were joined by Unicaja Malaga as the latest teams to reach the quarterfinals. Four teams remain alive for two tickets to the quarterfinals and first place is still up for grabs in two groups.
Group E
Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas outlasted Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 66-68 on a pair of Bo McCAlebb free throws with 7.7 seconds left. The win was Gran Canaria’s third in a row to improve to 3-2 and into second place in Group E of the Top 16. It will host Montakit Fuenlabrada in Round 6 in a winner-take-all clash for a ticket to the quarterfinals. Despite the loss, which was Lokomotiv’s first in the Top 16 and took its record to 4-1, the club cinched first place in the group and home-court advantage in the quarterfinals. The visitors turned a 12-point second-quarter deficit into a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, but Mardy Collins scored 8 in a 10-0 run to tie the game at 66-66 with a minute remaining and set up a tense finish. McCalebb and Kyle Kuric scored 13 points apiece and Anzejs Pasecniks added 12 points for the winners. Fuenlabrada eliminated UCAM Murcia with an 85-69 victory. Fuenlabrada improved to 2-3, while Murcia fell to 1-4 and lost its chances to advance. Pako Cruz paced the winners with 16 points and Marko Popovic added 13 for the winners, who made 14 of 31 three-pointers (45.2%). Nemanja Radovic scored a Murcia record 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting in defeat.
Group F
Bayern remained top of the group after a 101-98 overtime win over winless ratiopharm Ulm in an all-German showdown. Ulm looked to have game in hand after youngster Till Pape converted a second-chance three-point play with 2.8 seconds left in regulation, but Bayern survived thanks to a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Bryce Taylor that tied the game at 86-86. Reggie Redding scored 7 of his 14 points in overtime as Bayern claimed its fifth Top 16 win. Devin Booker had 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for Bayern and Taylor netted 17 points in victory. DeSean Butler scored 19 for Ulm. Khimki Moscow Region punched its ticket to the quarterfinals by downing Lietkabelis Panevezys 77-89 on the road. Khimki improved to 4-1 and will battle for first place against FC Bayern Munich at home next week. Lietkabelis dropped to 1-4 and was mathematically eliminated from reaching the next phase. Alexey Shved led the winners with 23 points and 8 assists and Robbie Hummel added 20 points. Ben Madgen led Lietkabelis with 23 points.
Group G
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem advanced to the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals by defeating Lietuvos Rytas Vilnius 84-77 on Wednesday at Pais Arena Jerusalem in the Israeli capital. Jerusalem sits in first place in Group G with a 4-1 record and will win the group and have the home-court advantage in the next phase if it wins next week at Nizhny Novgorod or if Rytas wins its Round 6 game. Rytas fell to 2-3, but can still advance if it beats Zenit St. Petersburg by more than 9 at home next week. Tarence Kinsey paced the Jerusalem attack with 23 points and Amar’e Stoudemire posted a double-double. Clevin Hannah paced Rytas with 14 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. Zenit eliminated Nizhny with a 90-66 victory. Zenit improved to 3-2 and Nizhny fell to 1-4. Nizhny stayed close throughout the first half, but Zenit owned the third quarter, which it dominated 21-4, and never looked back. Evgeny Valiev paced Zenit with 17 points and Stefan Markovic had 10 points and 13 assists, which helped Zenit tie its club record for assists with 32. DeAndre Kane flirted with a triple double for Nizhny and finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, though he also committed 7 turnovers.
Group H
Valencia Basket bested Cedevita Zagreb 71-58 on Tuesday to remain undefeated in Group H. Valencia, which had already clinched first place, improved to 5-0, while Cedevita fell to 1-4 and was eliminated from quarterfinals contention when Unicaja Malaga beat ALBA Berlin 83-77 on Wednesday. Pierre Oriola led Valencia with 13 points, of which all but 1 came in the last six minutes of the second quarter when he helped the hosts erase an 8-point deficit to lead 35-34 at the break. Miro Bilan paced Cedevita with 17 points and 9 rebounds. Unicaja stormed into the quarterfinals by beating ALBA. Unicaja improved to 3-2 and ALBA dropped to 1-4. Kyle Fogg led the winners with 20 points and Nemanja Nedovic added 16. Peyton Siva paced ALBA with 15 points, ALBA rallied to tie the game at 71-71 with four minutes to go, but Adam Waczynski and Jeff Brooks each hit a triple in a 10-2 run that sealed the outcome. Unicaja outrebounded ALBA 36-21 and buried 15 of 28 three-point shots (53.6%).
