Russia was the stage of this week thriller in Eurocup where Kiev survived against BC Thriumph, 84-85.
Group I had the best game of this Wednesday evening where Budivelnik remained unbeaten with a crucial win on the road against a still winless Russian team. The match was decided win a game winning block by Gorbenko with only a few seconds left on the clock.
On the winning side Leo Lyons was huge with a 26 points and 16 rebounds double-double, Malcolm Delaney added 16 points and 6 boards and Gorbenko finished with 14 points and a crucial defensive play.
For Thriumph, Tywain McKee was the main guy with 21 points, 7 assists and 5 boards well seconded by the Russian rising star Sergey Karasev who had 17 points.
Continuing in Group I Banvit grabbed their first win in this Last 16 round (89-80) against KK Buducnost at their home.
With a great team effort (5 players scored in double digits), Banvit had a much needed victory at their home where only Aleksa Popovic (16 points) and Cedomir Vitkovac (15 points) tried to fight against the power of the hosts.
We fly now to the Czech Republic where CEZ Basketall Nymburk collapsed against a powerful Valencia Basket 77-82.
Valencia (who improved to a 2-0 record) dominated the game for most of the entire 40 minutes of match, only with some errors late in the 4th quarter that were solved by Justin Doellman.
The Spanish team had in Dolleman a player that stepped up in the clutch moments, ending this game with 18 points. Rodrigo San Miguel, Thomas Kelati and Bojan Dubljevic added great performances too.
For the hosts, Rodaslav Rankic with 24 points and 4 boards and Lukas Palyza 18 points tried to make remain unbeaten a Nymbruk team who didn’t play well especially on the defensive end for the most part of this game.
In Group K, Spartak St. Petersburg demolished Cajasol Seville at home by 19 points (78-59).
The Russians had an amazing performance after losing their first game in this round and also losing a crucial player on Patrick Beverly who went to the Houston Rockets this month.
Zach Wright off the bench had a great overall game finishing with 6 points (3-3 shooting), 6 rebounds and 8 assists for an index rating of 21 on the Petersburg side.
Latavious Williams continued his good showcase in this year Eurocup with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Spaniards.
Ratiopharm Ulm cold blooded from the free throw was the key to a win on the road against Unics Kazan 87-95.
The German team made 18 of 20 from the charity stripe in the last three and half minutes to get a tremendous win on the road in Russia against an inspired Chuck Eidson.
The MVP of this week Eurocup Chuck Eidson had an amazing performance this night finishing the match with 31 points and 10 boards for an index rating of 36, which still wasn’t enough to take the win in front of their home crowd.
On the winning side Per Gunther had 19 points and 6 assists (11-14 FT), John Bryant with 18 points and 13 boards and Allan Ray were the main options for Ratiopharm.
To finish our week round up we go to Serbia where Galatasary shouted a fantastic crowd with a 74-91 win in Belgrade.
The Turkish team bounced back after a loss in the first game in great style with 6 players in double digits. Jamont Gordon led the team with 22 points and Carlos Arroyo 19 points and 3 assists.
