FIBA Europe Cup domestic round-up: Demir Insaat end cold spell in Turkey

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Domestic league action took centre stage across European leagues over the weekend once again, with plenty of FIBA Europe Cup teams involved in exciting games.

After an excellent start of the Turkish Basketball Super League, Demir Insaat had lost two games in a row on the domestic front, but ended the cold spell by defeating fellow FIBA Europe Cup side Gaziantep.

We will also look at the recent developments in the VTB League, where Tsmoki Minsk guard Justin Gray demonstrated some crunch time heroics but suffered an injury and Cyprus, where Petrolina AEK and Apoel faced off for the first time in the domestic championship this season.

Demir Insaat end cold spell in Turkey

Demir Insaat Buyukcekmece returned to winning ways in the Turkish BSL, as they triumphed against Gaziantep in a nail-biting match-up between two FIBA Europe Cup sides.

Having played better down the stretch, the Istanbul side earned a 73-68 victory, leaving the visitors from Gaziantep without a single win in the domestic championship this season.

Buyukcekmece coach Ozhan Civgin said in a press conference after the game that it was a tough encounter.

"It was a difficult game. We lost our concentration in the first half and it was an important game for Gaziantep as well. We found a way to win the game despite the low percentage," Civgin reflected, on his team's performance.

The guests were in the driving seat for most of the first half and even led by double figures at 38-28, but the Angelo Coloiaro-led Buyukcekmece went on a 7-0 run to finish the half and trailed by only three points at the interval.

The nip-and-tuck battle continued in the second half, but it was the home side with a slight edge. Only a single point separated the sides after 33 minutes at 53-52, but Kenneth Hayes took it upon himself to carry Demir Insaat in the fourth quarter.

The 29-year-old American guared scored the majority of his points in the final frame and secured the home victory for Buyukcekmece with a team-high 17 points.

"I think we played good basketball, but we missed too many open shots. There were some mistakes made that cost us the game. We dealt with Hayes for three quarters, but gave him three good looks in the last period and he took them," Gaziantep coach Stefanos Dedas said after the game.

Kahiem Seawright had 16 points for the winners, while Coloiaro added 11 points and 7 rebounds.

Deyan Ivanov collected a game-high 20 points and 9 rebounds for Gaziantep, Andy Rautins scored 12 points, while Will Cherry finished the game with 10 and 7 boards.

A solid 3-2 record puts Buyukcekmece in a deadlock with three other teams for the fifth spot in the Turkish BSL standings, while Gaziantep are one of four teams to have lost all five games so far.

Gray’s late-game heroics not enough for Tsmoki

Tsmoki Minsk guard Justin Gray has recently become somewhat of a late-game situation specialist for Igor Griszczuk’s side, following up his game-winner against Apoel in the FIBA Europe Cup with an equally impressive last-second basket against VEF Riga in the VTB League to force overtime.

However, the story for the Belarusian club did not have a happy ending on this ocassion, with Tsmoki eventually falling short 88-85 to their Latvian opponents, with their main protagonist suffering a minor injury.

The 32-year-old American guard buried an incredibly difficult three-pointer with only a couple of seconds to spare in regulation to bring Tsmoki level, but the Dragons ran out of steam in the extra period.

Gray had a game-high 24 points and added 9 rebounds and 3 steals, but didn't finish the game due to an injury sustained in overtime. Although it was not deemed serious after further examination, he will not play against Siauliai in the FIBA Europe Cup on Wednesday.

"The players did a pretty good job, but at the end of the game, we just didn't hit our free throws which proved to be the decisive factor," expressed coach Griszczuk, centring his attention on his side’s 14-of-26 shooting from the stripe.

Tsmoki are currently just outside of Play-Off positions after a 2-3 start, but could climb to as high as sixth place with a win against Lokomotiv-Kuban in the next round.

AEK take the first Cypriot derby against Apoel

The two FIBA Europe Cup teams from Cyprus faced off in the domestic championship for the first time this season, with defending champions AEK Larnaca coming out on top of Apoel once again.

Having also won the Cypriot Basketball Super Cup earlier this season, the team from Larnaca continued their dominance with a 77-66 home victory against their main rivals from Nicosia.

The first half of the game was a close affair for the better part of the 20 minutes, but AEK used a late second-quarter run to enter the halftime break with a 40-31 advantage.

The visitors did not back down and had made it a five-point game in the fourth period (60-55), but a strong finish allowed the home side to fend off the late rally by their opponents.

Slovenian big man Primoz Brezec put together a dominant performance of 26 points and 7 rebounds for the victors, while Iakovos Panteli and Alex Harris chipped in with 15 points apiece.

For Apoel, Brandon Mobley had a team-high 23 points, as Robert Brown and Akeem Wright contributed with 14 and 10 points respectively in a losing effort.

The victory against the visitors from Nicosia was a nice bounce-back game for coach Linos Gavriel whose side lost to Keravnos in the first round of action in the Cypriot Basketball League.

With the domestic championship in Cyprus starting relatively late, all teams have only played two games each and both AEK and Apoel share mid-table positions with two more clubs who also have the same 1-1 records.

FIBA