MUNICH (Germany) - The FIBA Europe Cup Quarter-Finals were packed full of raw emotion with a burning desire to win, and five players stood out as the pressure builds.
Four players in this week's Top Performers will carry on their journey while one was exceptional but fell agonisingly short. As usual, here are our top five, and you can vote for your favorite below.
It was heartbreak for Tofas Bursa, who comfortably beat Bilbao Basket 102-93 on the night but lost overall on the final buzzer when overtime looked on the cards. Alex Perez drilled a three-pointer with 13 seconds left as he - and the vocal crowd in Bursa - looked to head to an extra period, but Bilbao had other ideas. Despite bowing out, Perez scored 18 points, dished out 8 assists and 4 rebounds for an efficiency rating of 26.
There was delight for PAOK mateco and Jakob Forrester, as they overcame a gruelling Quarter-Final matchup with Fribourg Olympic. With nothing to separate them after the first leg, PAOK took the opportunity, led by Forrester's 21 points on 62 percent from the field and 10 rebounds, securing an 82-76 success. It wasn't easy for the Greek side though as their Swiss counterparts never went away, but Forrester and PAOK had enough in the tank.
Cholet Basket's Stefan Smith helped put Casademont Zaragoza to the sword in their 90-71 second leg win. All knotted up after the first tie, Smith and Cholet produced a stunning first half to lead by 15 and put the game beyond reach as the Canadian posted 21 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists for an efficiency rating of 22 as they move to the Semi-Finals. Gregor Hrovat produced game-winning wizardry to guide JDA Bourgogne Dijon to the Semi-Finals, as they freed themselves from the spell of MHP RIESEN Ludwigsburg to advance to the last four. The Slovenian hit four three-pointers and had 16 points along with 5 assists for a rating of 19 to give Dijon an 83-72 win, exacting revenge for their two Regular Season losses to the German side in the most deadly of circumstances.
Hrovat is joined at the table by teammate and German veteran Christian Sengfelder, who flirted with a double-double in Dijon's victory in Ludwigsburg, but settled happily for 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting, 7 rebounds and an assist as they now look forward to a Semi-Final moment.
FIBA