Another busy Wednesday in Eurocup with 13 games played all around Europe.Three teams secure their presence in the LAst 16 stage of the competition, while many others lost all hope of making it through.
We start our journey in Kiev where BC Budivelnik Kiev took a huge step forward to qualify for the next phase with a 72-63 win against CEZ B. Nymburk to tie at first place in Group A with a 3-2 record. Malcom Delaney was the man of the game finishing with 28 points and for Nymburk the main attraction was Rado Rancik that went for a double double with 17 points and 10 boards.
Still in Group A we go to Israel where Hapoel Jerusalem kept alive their chances alive with an impressive 92-79 win against BC Prienai. Courtney Fields had a 10-11 shooting night to get 25 points for the Israelites who always had the lead in this game.
Group A is the only group where all the teams still can advance to Last 16.
Bilbao won Group B after a win in great fashion in Montenegro where they beat KK Buducnost 66-68 with a game winning and 1 by Lamon Hamilton with only 6 seconds remaining. Nikos Zisis continued his great performances ending this game with 14 points to get Bilbao a perfect 5-0 score.
On the only game of this Wednesday night in Group C, BC Triumph remained undefeated with a home victory over French’s Le Mans Basket, 77-68. Tywain McKee had an amazing performance with 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists filling the stat sheet.
Flying to Ukraine, Oliver Baskets had a crucial win on the road topping BC Azovmash 71-82 in an incredible display by both teams on 3 point shooting. Wurzburg made 14-26 from beyond the arc, with Alex King setting a competition-high 7-7 to finish with 21 points and lead the scoring list of the game. The Germans remain alive for a spot in the next round with this win, where they will battle in week 6 with already qualified Valencia Basket.
In Turkey, Valencia Basket became the group D winner by beating Banvit in a 70-84 much needed win. Justin Doellman off the bench had a great game with 27 points and an index rating of 34, well seconded by veteran Thomas Kelati that made 6-8 from three point range for 18 points.
BC Donetsk still has chances to advance in Group E after a tremendous win on the road in Russia, against Lokomotiv Kuban, 64-71. Donetsk improved to 2-3 and will advance if it wins and Lokomotiv loses next week, but in any other scenario, Lokomotiv, now 3-2, goes through. D’or Fisher and Ivan Radenovic had a great game; both interior players of Donetsk had double doubles and dominated the boards which was one of the key points to win the close game. In the Kuban side, Jimmy Baron had 18 points and Nick Calathes posted an 18 points and 10 rebounds performance.
Still in Russia, the “surprise” of this year’s competition Stelmet Zielona Gora claimed a spot in the Last 16 after a huge road against Unics Kazan, 76-91. In their debut in Eurocup, Zielona had Walter Hodge and and Quinton Hesley as their main options finishing with 27 and 19 points, respectively. For Unics, Vougioukas led the way with 21 points and 11 boards well seconded by Chuck Eidson with 15.
Greece welcomed the game of the week where Panionios beat Telenet Oostende 101-100 with a 3 point buzzer in overtime by Vladimir Jankovic to claim their first win and end all the hope of qualifying for the Belgians. Landon Milbourne with 26 points was huge for the Greeks and youngster Nikos Pappas continued to showcase all of his talents with 14 points, 3 steals and 3 assists.
You can see the buzzer beater in the video below (courtesy of sport24.gr):
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In Group G Spartak St. Petersburg just annihilated KK Cibon Zagreb 93-60. With 14 three pointers made and 6 players in double digits, it was an easy win for the Russian team against a hopeless squad.
Ratiopharm Arena was the home of a thriller between the home team and Chole Basket that ended with a three pointer by Rudy Jomby as time expired for a 69-71 win. Cholet is in position to control its own destiny in the final game of the regular season next week. However, since Ulm has the tiebreaker, if Cholet loses and Ulm win, the latter will finish in second place and advance to the Last 16.
On the road for France we go, where Crvena Belgrade claimed the first place in Group H topping Orleans 75-85 on the road. Bojan Subotic finished with 24 points. Rasko Katic and Igor Rakocevic both added 16. Jahmar Young led Orleans with 25 points. Orleans can still advance if they win by 16 their next game.
Italian team Banco Di Sardegna improved their hopes to get a place in Last 16 with a win on the road against Cajasol Seville, 76-85. Sardegna had the lead for the entire game, with two players with remarkable displays in this game. Drake Diener had 31 points with 7 pointers and Bootsy Thornton added 21 points for the visitors, which was too much to handle for the Spanish squad.
Week 6 is going to be exciting, with still 8 tickets remaining for the next phase and numerous teams with hopes advance. Tune in.
