Another exciting matchday of Eurocup has passed us and many teams have only two games to achieve their goals. This week saw Galatasaray destroying Lokomotiv while Crvena Zvezda continued their marvelous offensive game. Read the roundup for all the games that took place last night.
In Kiev, Budivelnik earned their second win of the season by beating narrowly Hapoel Jerusalem thanks to Lyons and Delaney scoring 20 and 22 points respectively. The Ukrainians are now tied with BC Prienai at the second spot of the group. Final score: 84-77
In the other game of Group A, CEZ Numburk returned to wins in a fashionable way, easily dispatching BC Prienai. Five home team players finished the game in double digit scoring to put their team on the top of Group. Final score: 90-66.
In a tight game in Podgorica the home team of Buducnost beat their Belgian visitors of Spirou Charleroi who couldn’t connect to the basket from the long range (17% in 3P attempts). The home team have probably sealed their qualification to the next round with this win, while Spirou remains winsless. Final score: 59-55.
Bilbao have admitted to be aiming at winning this year’s tournament and they are not shy showing it on the court. Lukoil Academic was their latest victim with Kostas Vasiliadis leading his team in scoring again. Final score: 82-60.
Triumph Lyubertsy continues ruling Group C as they beat VEF Riga in a close game, mainly thanks to their dominance on the boards. The Latvians need to win their two upcoming games if they want to qualify to the next round. Final score: 82-77.
Le Mans took a decisive step in their qualification battle by thrashing Artland Dragons. Six of their players scored in the range of 10-15 points while playing a remarkably strong defense. Artland should consider themselves as good as knocked out at this stage. Final score: 88-51.
Banvit has been playing beautiful basketball since the season start and they continued to do so in Mariupol, clinching to another win. Stimac, Lucas, Davis and Mejia were the leaders again, proving they are Euroleague level players. As for the hosts, you can’t really hope for anything good when you concede such a high number of points in such a crucial home game. Final score: 88-95.
Valencia suffered a surprising first season defeat at the hands of s.Oliver Wurzburg, who shot the lights out from behind the arc, scoring at an amazing 56% and have now valid hopes of making it to the next round, as they are hosting Banvit on Week 6. Final score: 89-82.
In the neighbouring Poland, Trefl Sopot got their first win of the season as well, against one of the greatest disappointments of European basketball this year, BC Donetsk. Both teams however will finish their Eurocup campaign at the group stage, as Galatasaray and Lokomotiv are dominating the group. Final score: 77-67.
In the most anticipated game of the day, Galatasaray heavily beat Lokomotiv, taking revenge in part for the events which took place last week regarding theTurkish team arrival and accomodation in Krasnodar. Galatasaray had an all around performance from six of their players who scored double digit numbers while Calathes was the only one to fight for the Russians. However Galatasaray barely failed to cover the 25 points margin defeat they suffered in Russia. Final score: 76-52.
In one of the best games of the week, Unics managed to maintain their perfect record by downing Panionios much harder than the final score suggest. However it was a player from the losing side who stole the show. Nikos Pappas scored 34 points (25 in the first half) and accumulated a ranking of 44 to record one of his best career performances. But the Kazan based team is much deeper than that and they will fight for the competition title. Final score: 82-73.
Back to Poland now, where Zielona Gora put up another dominant performance, this time crashing Oostende. With their american duo of Jones and Hodge racking up a total of 40 points the home team cruised to an easy win, against a waining offensive game of the Belgians. Final score: 85-61.
In France, Cholet kept their qualification hopes alive by easily beating a disappointing Cibona side. The visiting side will need all the help they can get from their latest addition, Dario Saric if they are to hope for a brighter future. As for the home team they are still in the mix for next round. Final score: 79-59.
Spartak St. Petersburg had their toughest game of the league so far, but nevertheless they won, in order to keep their perfect record and are now 4-0. Another all around performances for both Beverley and Wright for the visiting Russians, while Ratiopharm Ulm proved to be a competitive team who will fight for the second qualifying spot of the gorup. Final score: 74-77.
In another magnificent display of offensive talent and mentality, the Serbian side of Crvena Zvezda recorded another win by beating Dinamo Sassari in Italy. In fact they are the sole team of the competition averaging over 100 points per game. Final score: 94-97.
