The home fans in Krasnodar, Munich, Jerusalem and Valencia all went home happy as the four teams that earned home-court advantage for the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals made good use of it by winning Game 1 of their respective best-of-three series. Each victor will have the chance to sweep its series if it can win Game 2 on the road on Friday.
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar 1-0 Zenit St. Petersburg
Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar started the 7DAYS EuroCup playoffs in style by downing Zenit St. Petersburg 75-52 in Game 1 at home on Tuesday. Mardy Collins and Ian Vougioukas paced the winners with 12 points apiece. Trevor Mbakwe and Sergey Karasev scored 12 each for Zenit. Two-point shooting percentage made the difference in the first half, as Lokomotiv hit 14 of 25 shots (56%) and limited Zenit to 5-of-15 shooting (33.3%). Lokomotiv dished 10 assists in taking a double-digit lead, 40-30, at the break. Lokomotiv allowed just 10 points in the third quarter and sealed the outcome long before the final buzzer.
FC Bayern Munich 1-0 Unicaja Malaga
FC Bayern Munich extended its 7DAYS EuroCup winning streak to 10 games with a 91-82 victory over Unicaja Malaga in Game 1 at Audi Dome on Tuesday. A relatively even game statistically didn’t seem that way as Bayern led for all but one possession, but still had to fight off a late rush by Unicaja. Led by Maik Zirbes with 15 points, Bayern had six double-digit scorers in a balanced attack that yielded its third-highest non-overtime point total this season. Reggie Redding added 13 points on perfect shooting. Unicaja got 15 points from Dejan Musli, but its top scorer this season, Kyle Fogg, was on the bench for almost 25 minutes before coming in to get 9 points and 4 assists.
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 1-0 Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem was too strong for Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas in their quarterfinals opener and dominated the second half for an 87-67 victory at Pais Arena Jerusalem in the Israeli capital. Jerome Dyson starred with 20 points and 6 assists for the winners. Jerusalem outrebounded Gran Canaria 35-29, dished 25 assists to the visitors’ 15 and blocked 7 shots in the win. Bo McCalebb scored 12 and for Gran Canaria, which struggled with its typically great three-point shooting, making only 6 of 27 tries (22.2%).
Valencia Basket 1-0 Khimki Moscow Region
Valencia Basket defeated Khimki Moscow Region 88-82 at home on Tuesday for its 13th consecutive EuroCup win. Fernando San Emeterio led the winners with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and Bojan Dubljevic each tallied 11 points and 11 rebounds to help Valencia dominate the boards with 57 rebounds, which was a EuroCup season high, the third-highest mark in competition history and the all-time record in a non-overtime game. Its 27 offensive rebounds is also a EuroCup record. Valencia outrebounded Khimki 57-30, which when added to the visitors’ poor three-point shooting (6 of 27, 22.2%) allowed Valencia to take the lead in the series. Alexey Shved led Khimki with 24 point, 5 rebounds and 7 assists.
