Galatasaray clinched a spot in the next round of the Eurocup with a 103-82 against Trefl Sopot.
Istanbul was the city of the game of the day, where Galatasaray hosted Trefl Sopot in a match where the Turkish team was expecting to advance to the next round and continue to fight for first place in the group with Lokomotiv Kuban (plays Wednesday).
The story of the game was the teamwork showed by the home squad where Ataman’s players dished 30 assists for a record-tie in Eurocup and made 18 three pointers with 7 players scoring in double digits.
Engin Atsur was the most valuable player with 12 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds for an index rating of 24 in just 19 minutes.
On the Trefl side only two players were above average, Adam Waczynski scored 17 points and Frank Turner had 11 assists but it wasn’t enough to stop the inspired Turkish squad.
In group B, Lukoil Academic kept alive their chances to qualify for Last 16 with a 61-79 win against Belgacom Spirou on the road.
They still depend on the result of the Wednesday game where KK Budcnoust will face Bilbao Basket. If the Hungarians win, Lukoil is automatically eliminated if not they will face each other in Sofia to see who grabs the last spot for the next round.
David Green was the man for the Bulgarian squad finishing this game with 22 points and 7 rebounds well seconded by his compatriots Abukar (16 points) and Darryl Watkins (14points and 9 boards).
Spirou had only two players in double digits, led by Matt Welsh who had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 30 minutes of play.
The first half was the key for the final score of this game, with a strong defensive effort Lukoil made an early 4-15 run with 10 straight points by Green and the lead keep growing until halftime where the visitors had a 28-47 comfortable margin.
In the second half, Spirou tried to cut the lead with some minimal runs but Lukoil always had the game in their control never letting the Belgians come closer than 13 points.
Other team still fighting for a spot in the Last 16 is VEF Riga after this win against Artland Dragons, 83-72.
Kristaps Janicenoks was the main man for the home team with a nearly perfect team, 19 points only two missed shots. Three other players were in double digits to get this well-needed win.
On the Dragons side, veteran Demond Mallet and Bryce Taylor had good games with 15 and 14 both with 3 assists.
VEF Riga only trailed in in the first minutes of this game where Artland started with a 3-9 run promptly ended with 9 straight points to take a 14-6 lead that never got lost for the rest of the match. The biggest lead was achieved in the fourth quarter where the Latvians had a 76-60 with just 5 minutes left and that was enough to get this convincing win and stay one more day alive.