FIBA Basketball

    Balkan, Leiden and Varese clinch Second Round berths; Avtodor break scoring record

    MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – There were plenty of Second Round spots on offer in the penultimate week of the Regular Season, but only the trio of Balkan, Leiden and Varese were able to punch their tickets.

    MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – There was a large number of Second Round spots on offer in the penultimate week of action in the Regular Season, but only the trio of Balkan Botevgrad, Pallacanestro Varese and ZZ Leiden were able to punch their tickets to the next phase on Wednesday.

    An 89-71 victory against FC Porto was enough to put the Dominique Archie-led Varese over the edge in Group F with a 4-1 record, with the power forward pacing the Italian side with a team-high 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists.

    Ronald Moore chipped in with 15 points for the Italian club, while Sasa Borovnjak finished the night with a game-high 18 points and 8 rebounds for the Portuguese side, who needed to win to avoid elimination.

    Having already secured their spot in the Second Round last week, Alba Fehervar improved to a 5-0 record with a 104-83 victory over Rilski Sportist in the other Group F contest, as Allerik Freeman posted 27 points and a personal season-best 8 assists.

    ZZ Leiden progressed to the next stage by defeating CSM CSU Oradea 76-72 to move their marker to 4-1 in Group A behind a joint 47-point effort from the magnificent one-two punch of Darius Thompson and Maurice Watson Jr., with the former collecting 26 points and the latter adding 21 points, 8 assists and 4 steals.

    Paced by Landry Nnoko and Toney Douglas, Sakarya BSB kept the intrigue alive in the table by denying s.Oliver Wurzburg early qualification with an 80-60 win in Turkey, while closing the gap in the standings to just a single game.

    The third team to go through on Wednesday, Balkan Botevgrad, managed to do so in spite of a double-digit 84-73 defeat to Tsmoki-Minsk in Group B. Having maintained a tie-breaker advantage over the Belarusian side, the Nebojsa Vidic-coached Bulgarian side became beneficiaries of Petrolina AEK beating Belfius Mons-Hainaut 63-62 in the other game.

    Elsewhere, Avtodor Saratov broke the long-standing FIBA Europe Cup scoring record in a 129-91 victory over BK JIP Pardubice in Group D, besting the 121-point mark set by CEZ Nymburk in the 2015-16 campaign. Perrin Buford left a 31-point imprint, while David Kravish and Trae Golden added 26 and 22 points, respectively, as Avtodor moved back to the top of the table with a 4-1 record.

    Meanwhile, New Heroes Den Bosch surprised Ironi Ness Ziona with a 102-87 defeat in the Netherlands to catch up with the Israeli side in the standings at 3-2 and stay in the three-team race for the two Second Round spots in Group D.

    Both qualification places are also vacant in Group D, where Donar Groningen got the better of Pinar Karsiyaka in a close-fought 89-83 contest at the MartiniPlaza and Spirou Basket pummeled Istanbul BBSK 92-45 at home in Charleroi.

    Bakken Bears enjoyed another strong showing in Group F with a 121-89 win over the visiting Cherkaski Mavpy, as Darko Jukic earned the spotlight with a 26-point and 5-rebound performance.

    In the meantime, Lukoil Levski locked in the top spot in Group G by out-dueling Kataja Basket 102-95 in a game between two sides that were already qualified, while Aris kept Dnipro winless in the standings with an 86-61 victory at home.

    In Group H, Szolnoki Olaj handed Dinamo Sassari their first defeat of the season, emerging victorious 87-74 behind the leadership of David Vojvoda, who had 23 points and 8 rebounds. Meanwhile, Falco Vulcano came alive in the second half to beat Leicester Riders 95-84 on the road.

    Heading into the final week of the Regular Season, there will be six vacant spots in the Second Round and 10 teams in the race to secure them.

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