Bamforth, Dinamo Sassari force Szolnoki Olaj to surrender; Donar Groningen on a roll in Group C

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Scott Bamforth caught fire late, as Dinamo Sassari turned around a 20-point deficit in the last quarter and a half to keep their unbeaten record in the FIBA Europe Cup intact with a nail-biting 98-94 triumph over Szolnoki Olaj in Group H on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old American point guard rattled in 13 points for the Sardinian club in the fourth quarter alone to turn a frustrating night into one of celebration.

Trailing 78-58 with 3:22 left in the third period, Dinamo outscored their Hungarian visitors 40-16 the rest of the way, taking the lead at 95-94 on a Terran Petteway three-point jumper with a minute left in regulation.

Jack Cooley sealed the win with a break-away dunk

Bamforth led Sassari with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 5 assists, Petteway collected 21 points and dished out 6 assists, while Jack Cooley chipped in with 17 points and 6 rebounds.

"We have to take our hats off to the other team. They played their butts off, they came here and shot the ball really well," Petteway spoke in the press conference after the game.

"But we still had a lot of guts at the end of the game as a team. They had us down 20, but we kept fighting. Our guys kept chopping down at the tree and at the end of the game we finally pulled it out. It's a testament to how tough our team can be. It wasn't a pretty win, it was ugly. But we'll take those type of wins, because it's a long season."

For Szolnok, who went 11-of-15 from three-point range in the first half, David Vojvoda finished the night with a team-high 23 points, as Andrew Rowsey and Strahinja Milosevic scored 17 points apiece.

In the other Group H game, Falco Vulcano came away with a convincing 80-65 victory over Leicester Riders for their first win of the FIBA Europe Cup campaign behind a 23-point and 8-rebound performance by former Donar Groningen four-man Evan Bruinsma.

Elsewhere, Sakarya BSB bounced back from their opening-day defeat in Group A with a confidence-boosting 79-69 victory over s.Oliver Wurzburg on the road in Germany, with Toney Douglas posting a 20-point game and Landry Nnoko adding a 16-point and 11-rebound double-double.

The result in Wurzburg meant that ZZ Leiden have the top spot in the standings all to themselves after moving to a 2-0 mark with a 90-76 victory against the Romanian title holders CSM CSU Oradea.

Donar Groningen continued to be a nightmare opponent for Turkish clubs in Group C, beating Pinar Karsiyaka 69-64 in Izmir after topping Istanbul BBSK at home last week. Meanwhile, Istanbul BBSK dropped to a 0-2 mark following a heavy 80-62 defeat at the hands of Spirou Basket, who registered their first win.

Grant Sitton led Donar Groningen with a team-high 13 points

In Group D, Avtodor Saratov stayed undefeated by scoring a 102-90 road victory against BK Pardubice, while Ironi Ness Ziona outlasted New Heroes Den Bosch in Israel in a close-fought 91-85 contest.

Bakken Bears and Z Mobile Prishtina used victories over Cherkaski Mavpy and Steauau Bucuresti to move to 2-0 in Group E. The Danes strolled to a 106-77 victory over the short-handed Mavpy with Ryan Evans going off for 24 points on efficient 9-of-13 shooting from the field, while Khalid Boukichou and Dardan Berisha combined for 52 points in Prishtina's 87-81 win against Steaua.

There were also wins for Balkan Botevgrad, Pallacanestro Varese and Aris in the other games of the day. The Nebojsa Vidic-coached Balkan beat Tsmoki-Minsk 95-81 in Bulgaria to climb to 2-0 in Group A, while Pallacanestro Varese held off a late rally by FC Porto and also doubled their win tally in Group F with an 84-75 triumph.

After being on the receiving end of an upset last week, Aris survived a defensive-minded 55-51 contest against Dnipro in Ukraine to earn their first win in Group G behind a 16-point and 9-rebound effort from Lefteris Bochoridis.

FIBA