Norrkoping Dolphins win overtime thriller on debut as Regular Season begins

MUNICH (Germany) - The 2022-23 edition of the FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season opened with an eventful slate of 15 games including plenty of dramatic finishes.

Norrkoping Dolphins earned a dramatic 93-87 triumph in overtime at home to HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim on their debut in the competition. They were paced by 27 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists from Koby McEwen in the win.

"It was a slow start; we got hit early, but we showed a lot of character in not giving up right away. We always believed in each other. We weren't doing what we scouted to do and then started being aggressive on the offensive end and executing our game plan," said McEwen.

Crailsheim had led by as many as 18 points in the contest before being pegged back and they had five different double-digit scorers including Maurice Stuckey, who had a team-high 16 points.

Telenet Giants Antwerp narrowly overcame the challenge OCS Swans Gmunden 92-88 on the road. Royce Hamm led the Belgian side with 17 points and also pulled down 7 rebounds, while Dominic Green and Urald King both put up 22 points for Gmunden in a losing effort.

Meanwhile, Fribourg Olympic managed to down Heroes Den Bosch to record an 83-78 win with six players in double figures for the Swiss side as Arnaud Cotture top scored with 12 points.

Budivelnyk Kyiv pulled off a narrow win over Happy Casa Brindisi to close out the night, 74-70. Archie Goodwin’s 19 points was key for the visitors as they held off a late fightback from the hosts as Nick Perkins and Marcquise Reed both put up 17 points for the Italian side.

Anwil Wloclawek shot the lights out in their 113-89 victory over Sporting CP as they made 21 three-pointers during the contest in Lisbon. They scored 42 points in the opening quarter with a 10-of-13 start from beyond the arc to set the tone in their return to the competition.

There was mixed fortunes for the sides from Israel as Hapoel Haifa fell to a 79-63 loss at home to Gaziantep, while Hapoel Nofar Galil Eilon triumphed on the road in beating Golden Eagle Ylii 93-76 behind a game-high of 20 points from Jalen Hudson.

In Group E, Cholet Basket recorded a convincing 99-81 win at home to CSM CSU Oradea with Kangoeroes Mechelen stating their intent by beating Rilski Sportist 100-66 in convincing fashion on their travels.

Elsewhere, Kervanos BC cruised to an 89-77 win against Opava with BC Balkan also victorious on the road in picking up a 91-83 victory over Patrioti Levice in the other Group D encounter, while BC Kalev/Cramo held off Donar Groningen for a 75-65 success.

BC Parnu Sadam defeated FC Porto 95-83, while Karhu Basket downed Egis Kormend in a 77-62 success in the opening game and SCMU Craiova grabbed a 70-61 win against their Romanian counterparts CSO Voluntari.

FIBA