Andre Jones orchestrates Tuesday night FIBA Europe Cup upset for Prievidza

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Andre Jones has lit it up for 30 points to land the biggest blow on the opening night of FIBA Europe Cup Second Round action on Tuesday, taking Prievidza to a 98-95 road win over BCM Gravelines.

The Slovak visitors were considerable outsiders traveling to France to take on BCM Gravelines but with Jones going three-of-four from downtown on the way to his biggest FIBA Europe Cup return, Gravelines have been left to contemplate a third consecutive loss in Europe - a worrying sign for the Dunkerque side who began their European campaign on a 4-0 run.

In an offensive-friendly encounter, there was little give in the opening quarter as Prievidza entered the first break with a slender one-point advantage. However, Gravelines hit back hard in the second frame and were looking comfortable at the half, leading 53-42.

The lead was all but preserved throughout the third as the visitors only made the slightest of dents in the 13-point buffer, with Gravelines continuing to look in control, entering the deciding period 73-65 ahead.

However, when Jones brought up his final points of the night to make it 83-81, Igor Maric took over, nailing a three before following it up with a jump shot to put Prievidza in front. Following an exchange of baskets at both ends, it then came up to Maric to put the icing on the cake, scoring his side's last six points to confirm the win, as a desperate buzzer-beating three from Justin Cobbs came up short.

"It was a very very big success for our team, for our city, for our country. We had represent them here tonight," commented Maric following the game. "We put so much energy into it. We played 40 minutes and at the end we made the importants shots."

It marked the only win for a travelling team in Tuesday night action, with victory going to the home side in the other four encounters.

Across the league

In the Belorussian capital, it was Tsmoki-Minsk starting off the action with an 89-76 victory over the visiting Bnei Herzliya; Nemanja Milosevic recording a tidy stat-line of 23 points and 8 rebounds.

After sneaking through a number of close encounters unscathed in the Regular Season, U-BT Cluj Napoca could not continue that same run when they encountered Alba Fehervar in neighbouring Hungary, as the home team came up with a well-rounded effort for the 92-83 victory. Akos Keller led six players in double figures, completing the night with 15.

There were then comfortable victories for a duo of French clubs. Following a sluggish second quarter, that saw their lead cut from 14 to 6, defending champions Elan Chalon duly recovered in the second half to run away to a resounding 101-65 win over BC Mures. Young French talent Axel Bouteille went 6-of-8 from downtown to record 30 points.

Meanwhile, victory came in almost identical fashion for Pau-Lacq-Orthez as they saw off BK Pardubice 101-66. Vitalis Chikoko failed to miss from the field on the way to recording 28 points in under 31 minutes.

FIBA