By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Plenty of Basketball Champions League Regular Season action stretched Monday through Wednesday. Nine games in five groups with the top end of Gameday 5 and a suspended Gameday 2 matchup. Three additional teams joined Baxi Manresa in the Round of 16, while five teams set themselves up for the Play-Ins.
Among the teams clinching a berth to the Round of 16, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg forced Lenovo Tenerife to a rare home loss and won Group A in style with one game remaining. Meanwhile, Prometey earning an even wider win over Dinamo Banco di Sardegna secured third place.
The top seed in Group E went to Galatasaray Nef. The Turkish side routed PAOK mateco to advance to the next round and force the visiting side to a tie with Igokea and ERA Nymburk. The Bosnia and Herzegovina side defeated the Czech champions one day earlier.
Another Turkish team clinched a berth in the Round of 16 as Tofas Bursa prevailed in a tight affair versus Filou Oostende to win Group F. The losing side will compete in a best-of-three Play-In series in early January as will SIG Strasbourg after knocking out Kalev/Cramo.
Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem became the first team clinching a Play-In berth Tuesday. Following the emphatic display opposite Pinar Karsiyaka in the Monday “Game of the Week”, Baxi Manresa defeating Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski handed at least third place in Group B to the Israeli club.
In the Group G fixture pushed back from Gameday 2, Darussafaka matched Hapoel U-NET Holon at 2-2, in between U-BT Cluj Napoca and Happy Casa Brindisi sitting at 3-1 and 1-3, respectively.
Basketball Champions League Regular Season Week 8 results and standings:
Group A
Prometey – Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 89-56
Lenovo Tenerife – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 83-99
Standings
1. y-MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 9 (4-1)
2. p-Lenovo Tenerife 8 (3-2)
3. p-Prometey 7 (2-3)
4. x-Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari 6 (1-4)
Group B
Pinar Karsiyaka – Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 65-85
Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski – Baxi Manresa 75-88
Standings
1. y-Baxi Manresa 10 (5-0)
2. p-Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem 7 (2-3)
3. Pinar Karsiyaka 7 (2-3)
4. Arged BM Stal Ostrow Wielkopolski 6 (1-4)
Group C
Standings
1. Unicaja Malaga 7 (3-1)
2. Lavrio Megabolt 6 (2-2)
3. JDA Dijon 6 (2-2)
4. Nizhny Novgorod 5 (1-3)
Group D
Standings
1. NutriBullet Treviso 7 (3-1)
2. Falco Szombathely 7 (3-1)
3. VEF Riga 5 (1-3)
4. AEK 5 (1-3)
Group E
Igokea – ERA Nymburk 76-69
Galatasaray Nef – PAOK mateco 87-75
Standings
1. y-Galatasaray Nef 9 (4-1)
2. PAOK mateco 7 (2-3)
3. ERA Nymburk 7 (2-3)
4. Igokea 7 (2-3)
Group F
Kalev/Cramo – SIG Strasbourg 86-93
Filou Oostende – Tofas Bursa 78-83
Standings
1. y-Tofas Bursa 9 (4-1)
2. p-SIG Strasbourg 8 (3-2)
3. p-Filou Oostende 7 (2-3)
4. x-Kalev/Cramo 6 (1-4)
Group G
Darussafaka – Hapoel U-NET Holon 86-79
Standings
1. U-BT Cluj Napoca 7 (3-1)
2. Darussafaka 6 (2-2)
3. Hapoel U-NET Holon 6 (2-2)
4. Happy Casa Brindisi 5 (1-3)
Group H
Standings
1. Hereda San Pablo Burgos 7 (3-1)
2. Rytas Vilnius 6 (2-2)
3. Besiktas Icrypex 6 (2-2)
4. EWE Baskets Oldenburg 5 (1-3)
y-clinched Round of 16
p-clinched Play-In
x-eliminated
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League