FIBA Basketball

    Sassari give Karsiyaka first-leg whammy; Holon too strong for Alba

    MUNICH (Germany) - Dinamo Sassari and UNET Holon inched closer to the FIBA Europe Cup title after beginning the Quarter-Finals with substantial first-leg victories, while other results were inconclusive.

    MUNICH (Germany) - Dinamo Sassari and UNET Holon inched closer to the FIBA Europe Cup title after beginning the Quarter-Finals with substantial first-leg victories, while results on the other side of the Play-Off bracket proved inconclusive.

    There was not much that could have been done to stop Jack Cooley in Izmir, as the Dinamo five-man put together a five-star performance to lead Sassari to an 87-68 victory against Pinar Karsiyaka, tallying 26 points and 11 rebounds.

    Having led from start to finish, the visitors from the Italian island of Sardinia sailed away with a 19-point cushion after turning 16 offensive rebounds into 25 second-chance points against the usually tough-to-beat Turkish frontcourt.

    Cooley wasn't the only Dinamo player in double figures, with Achille Polonara scoring 15 points, Tyrus McGee collecting 12 points and Marco Spissu knocking down three triples for 11 points for the Gianmarco Pozzecco-coached visitors.

    Sek Henry had a team-high 19 points and 5 assists for Karsiyaka, while Assem Marei finished the night with 18 points and 7 rebounds but was limited to only 24 minutes due to foul trouble.

    UNET Holon will have even more wiggle room ahead of the reverse fixture after steamrolling Alba Fehervar 96-63 at the Holon Toto Arena behind the fantastic duo of Shawn Jones and Darion Atkins, who combined for 42 points in the one-sided win.

    After getting off to a slow start and playing catch-up in the first quarter, Dan Shamir's men broke the game in their favor by outscoring the Hungarian visitors 30-16 in the second quarter and riding their momentum the rest of the way.

    Even with Peter Lorant going off for 22 points and Allerik Freeman adding 15 points, Alba Fehervar find themselves with a mountain to climb for the second leg in Hungary.

    On the other side of the bracket, it was Bakken Bears and Pallacanestro Varese who emerged with victories on Wednesday but neither were able to secure anything more than symbolic cushions for the second-leg battles.

    Paced by a 20-point effort by Tobin Carberry, the Aarhus-based Bears halted s.Oliver Wurzburg's nine-game winning streak with a 76-75 victory at home in Denmark.

    Michel Diouf plugged the paint on the defensive end and collected 13 points for the Bakken Bears himself, while Wurzburg's most recent addition Devin Oliver had a team-high 17 points in a losing effort.

    In the only other fixture of the day, Pallacanestro Varese were able to escape with a 73-70 win against Filou Oostende despite seeing their 13-point advantage erased in the second half of action.

    An on-fire Aleksa Avramovic knocked down 8-of-13 attempts from the field for a game-high 22 points, Thomas Scrubb chipped in with 11 points and 6 rebounds, while Jean Salumu somewhat struggled against his former club with 6 points on 2-of-8 shooting.

    Oostende will travel to Italy with just a three-point deficit thanks to an all-around gem from Chase Fieler, who stuffed the boxscore with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.

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