Bilbao edge thriller as Second Round begins; Gravelines among road victors

MUNICH (Germany) - The Second Round action began in style across Tuesday and Wednesday featuring a thrilling victory for unbeaten Surne Bilbao Basket.

Home wins were hard to come by as the next phase got underway with BCM Gravelines Dunkerque enjoying a major road scalp along with Portuguese sides FC Porto and Sporting CP.

Key Storylines

- De Ridder stands tall for Bilbao;

- Gravelines secure triumph in Turkiye;

- Statement win for perfect NINERS.

Two teams that finished the Regular Season unbeaten, Surne Bilbao Basket and NINERS Chemnitz, managed to maintain their winning streaks to open up their Second Round action.

Bilbao led for the majority of their contest but were still made to sweat as they toppled BG Gottingen 75-73. Sacha Kileya-Jones led the hosts with 22 points and 7 rebounds as they secured the win through a huge defensive stand from Belgian stud Thijs De Ridder, who also added 18 points and 6 rebounds.

NINERS Chemnitz secured a more routine 109-85 success over Itelyum Varese as they sent out a statement with a dominant display. The German side led 35-16 after the opening 10 minutes with Kevin Yebo off to a hot start on his way to 27 points and 14 rebounds in the win.

The visitors rallied in the third quarter but had too much to claw back, despite a 28-point effort from November MVP Olivier Hanlan.

Elsewhere, Gravelines put together a polished team outing against Manisa BBSK in Group M, taking a 78-67 victory thanks to a game-high 22 points from Chris Babb.  

Taking a slender 36-35 lead into the break, the French side broke the game open in the second half thanks to solid execution at both ends of the floor as their opponents struggled for rhythm. Pako Cruz led Manisa with 19 points and 8 assists as they will need to recover from an 0-1 start. 

FC Porto were impressive in their comfortable 88-63 win away to Balkan Botevgrad in Group K as Cleveland Melvin starred with 26 points and 12 rebounds.

The Bulgarian side were ambushed early on, as Porto raced to a 34-12 lead and never looked back.

Sporting CP enjoyed a similar feat on the road as they ran out 91-81 winners in Lithuania as Mike Moore exploded for 27 points in their opening victory in an all-around impressive outing.

There was also celebration for CSM CSU Oradea as they edged past ZZ Leiden in a 82-77 road success behind a combined 59 points from Donatas Tarolis, Erick Neal and Nijal Pearson.

On Tuesday, Casademont Zaragoza came back from a double-digit deficit to beat ERA Nymburk 82-79 in the opening game of the Second Round.

Highs

Efficiency: 36 – Kevin Yebo (NINERS Chemnitz)
Points: 28 – Olivier Hanlan (Itelyum Varese)
Rebounds: 14 – Kevin Yebo (NINERS Chemnitz)
Assists: 8 – Pako Cruz (Manisa BBSK), Thomas Cornely (BCM Gravelines Dunkerque)
Steals: 5 – Mike Moore (Sporting CP)
Blocks: 3 – Mitchell Watt, Yoanki Mensia (Casademont Zaragoza)

Tuesday, November 5

Group M: Casademont Zaragoza 82-79 ERA Nymburk

Wednesday, November 6

Group K: Balkan Botevgrad 63-88 FC Porto, Surne Bilbao Basket 75-73 BG Gottingen 
Group L: Bahcesehir College 100-90 Legia Warszawa, Jonava CBet 81-91 Sporting CP
Group M: Manisa BBSK 67-78 BCM Gravelines Dunkerque
Group N: NINERS Chemnitz 109-85 Itelyum Varese, ZZ Leiden 77-82 CSM CSU Oradea

FIBA