By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Here comes Gameday 2 of the Basketball Champions League Round of 16. Eight games scattered all around Europe will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Group J’s all-Spanish meeting of Hereda San Pablo Burgos and Lenovo Tenerife attracts the main spotlight. Both sides prevailed in the opening week, while the hosts and defending champions have won nine BCL home games in a row. On the other hand, Tenerife has landed only one win in four previous games versus Spanish teams in FIBA’s premier European club competition. VEF Riga and Igokea collide in the other Tuesday contest.
Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon after four straight wins in the Champions League will face Tofas Bursa in Turkey aiming to improve to 2-0 in Group I. Also, Happy Casa Brindisi down 0-1 will take on Pinar Karsiyaka up 1-0 and riding a four-game winning streak of its own. Both matches will be played on Tuesday.
In Group L, ERA Nymburk faces Dinamo Sassari at the Czech Republic on Tuesday and Casademont Zaragoza hosts Brose Bamberg on Wednesday. The home sides of the upcoming affair jumped to 1-0 last week, but the visitors are hoping to catch up.
The Group K schedule unfolds Wednesday with AEK and Turk Telekom going at it in Greece, while Nizhny Novgorod bumps into SIG Strasbourg in France. The lone opening week match saw the Turkish club defeat Strasbourg.
Group I
Tuesday
Tofas Bursa – Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon (18:00 CET)
Happy Casa Brindisi – Pinar Karsiyaka (20:30 CET)
1. Pinar Karsiyaka 2 (1-0)
2. Hapoel Unet-Credit Holon 2 (1-0)
3. Happy Casa Brindisi 1 (0-1)
4. Tofas Bursa 1 (0-1)
Group J
Tuesday
VEF Riga – Igokea (18:00 CET)
Hereda San Pablo Burgos – Lenovo Tenerife (18:30 CET)
1. Lenovo Tenerife 2 (1-0)
2. Hereda San Pablo Burgos 2 (1-0)
3. VEF Riga 1 (0-1)
4. Igokea 1 (0-1)
Group K
Wednesday
AEK -Turk Telekom (18:30 CET)
SIG Strasbourg – Nizhny Novgorod (20:30 CET)
1. Turk Telekom 2 (1-0)
2. SIG Strasbourg 1 (0-1)
3. AEK 0 (0-0)
4. Nizhny Novgorod 0 (0-0)
Group L
Tuesday
ERA Nymburk – Dinamo Sassari (18:30 CET)
Wednesday
Casademont Zaragoza – Brose Bamberg (20:00 CET)
1. Casademont Zaragoza 2 (1-0)
2. ERA Nymburk 2 (1-0)
3. Brose Bamberg 1 (0-1)
4. Dinamo Sassari 1 (0-1)
-The top teams of each group advance to the Final 8
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League