Galatasaray and Belgacom Spirou have secured the final two spots in the Euroleague group phase after winning their qualifying rounds.
Despite a loud home following in Vilnius, Lietuvos Rytas could not stop the Galatasaray express from its final destination, as the Istanbul club defeat the hometown club 71-63.
Preston Shumpert paced the victors with 14 points, as they held Lietuvo Rytas to seven points in the second period. This included a 13-2 run, as the Lithuanians found themselves on top in the early stages but ultimately couldn’t match up to their Turkish opponents.
Galatasaray will be housed in Group D as they face the tough task of matching up against Montepaschi Siena, Unics Kazan, Asseco Prokom and for Slovenian veteran Jaka Lakovic, he gets to travel to his hometown of Ljubljana, as the Turks square off against Union Olimpija and his old club Regal FC Barcelona.
Belgacom Spirou won their qualifying campaign on their own turf as they thrashed Czech champions CEZ Nymburk 79-53 in Charleroi.
Like the second quarter in Vilnius, Spirou’s window of opportunity came when they held Nymburk to eight points, while scoring 19 of their own to establish a commanding lead, as the champions of Belgium won all four quarters to claim victory.
Chris Hill led all scorers for the victors with 21 points while Czech Republic international Jiri Welsch hit six points and dished out seven assists for Spirou, who are pitted in Group C alongside Efes Anadolu, Partizan, Real Madrid, Maccabi Electra and Emporio Armani Milano.
Lietuvos Rytas and CEZ Nymburk will both play in the Eurocup this season. The Vilnius club won the second-tier European competition two seasons ago and will be amongst the favourites along with Turkish side Besiktas to win it again.
