Europe’s domestic cup competitions are entering their final rounds, with Spain’s Copa Del Rey headlining.
Spain
Barcelona will start as favourites heading into today’s Copa Del Rey semi-final games as they defeated rivals Real Madrid 111-108 in double overtime.
Pete Mickeal led the Catalan side with 26 points supported by Ante Tomic’s 20 points and 11 rebounds. Sergio Llull’s 23 points were not enough for Real Madrid.
Barca will face Caja Laboral after they comfortably defeated Zaragoza 88-64 thanks to 17 points from Polish international Maciej Lampe.
The other semi-final pits Valencia, who beat Estudiantes 77-59 against Gran Canaria, who saw-off Bilbao 74-62.
Both semi-finals take place today with the final on Sunday.
Italy
Montepaschi Siena are through to the Italian Cup semis after they beat Trenkwalder Reggio Emila 82-73. Bobby Brown led the champions with 22 points with Matt Janning and David Moss both hitting 17.
Siena will face Acea Roma after they beat Mapooro Cantu 89-85. Luigi Datome pacing the winners with 22 points.
Current league leaders Cimberio Varese beat EA7 Milano 92-74 with the game being over from the first half. Varese were 46-29 ahead and they never looked back as 23 points from Mike Green helped them along the way.
The semi-final line-up is completed with Sassari as they needed overtime to beat Enel Brindlisi 98-96.
Both semi-finals take place today with the final on Sunday.
Slovenia
The top two teams in Slovenia look like they could square off again after they both reached the Pokal Spar semi-finals.
Union Olimpija beat Sencur Gorenjska 89-84 while Krka Novo Mesto eased past Plama Plur 91-59 but are on opposite sides of the draw.
Union Olimpija will face Tajfun, as they beat Maribor 77-62 with Slovenian under-20 international Tadej Ferme leading the winners with 14 points. Novo Mesto will face Domzale in the other semi, as they defeated Portoroz 91-82.Both semi-finals take place today with the final on Sunday.
Great Britain
As the British Basketball League Trophy Final heads north of the border to Glasgow, the semi-final picture is already proving to make interesting reading.
The Worcester Wolves defeated last season’s winners Newcastle Eagles 94-88 with Alex Owumi leading the way with 34 points. Charles Smith’s 23 points were in vain as last year’s quadruple winners have now lost their grip on two cups this time around. Worcester will face this year’s BBL Cup winners Leicester Riders after they beat the Surrey Heat 82-68 away in Guildford.
The Sheffield Sharks needed overtime to defeat the Glasgow Rocks 84-81 as they saw their hopes of playing in a home final dashed. The Sharks will face either Worthing Thunder or Cheshire Phoenix in the last four with their game to be played tonight. Worthing are the first team from the England Basketball League (tier below the BBL) to play in the last eight after they beat Mersey Tigers in the first round.
Germany
The German Cup will have a new champion for the first time in four years as Bayern Munich defeated previous holders Brose Baskets 77-69 in Bamberg.
Joining them in the Final Four, which will be played at the O2 World Arena in Berlin on March 23-24th will be ratiopharm Ulm, who beat TBB Trier 99-70, Artland Dragons who beat Oldenburg and Alba Berlin, who will be on their home court in the semis and possibly the final.
Finals results
There have been two major finals decided since January, in the Czech Republic CEZ Nymburk defeated BK JIP Pardubice 87-83 in the Czech Cup final. The game was decided in the final seconds when Evaldas Zabas missed a free throw attempt with 13 seconds left and the game tied at 83-83. The Lithuanian intentionally missed the second but Nymburk got the loose ball and iced the contest from the line. Rado Rancik led the winners with 23 points.
In Israel, Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv won the Israeli cup for the 40th time after they held off a late challenge from Maccabi Haifa to win 76-68. Ricky Hickman led Tel Aviv with 15 points. Devin Smith claimed the game MVP award with 13 points and he played a role defensively as well. Gal Mekel led all scorers in vain with 28.
