By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The penultimate week of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season completed Gameday 5 with eight contests scattered all across Europe. Plenty to play for with all eight groups combining for a stacked 16-game schedule next week.
Unicaja Malaga rocked Nizhny Novgorod to improve to 4-1 in Group C and clinch a berth to the Round of 16. Another one-sided affair saw JDA Dijon destroy Lavrio Megabolt and eventually earn a second opportunity to advance via a best-of-three Play-In series in January.
In Group D, Falco Szombathely all but secured a spot in the Round of 16 after defeating AEK on the road and VEF Riga edging NutriBullet Treviso at the buzzer. At the same time, 2018 champion AEK was eliminated.
The 2020 and 2021 champion, Hereda San Pablo Burgos remained in charge of Group H by taking down Besiktas Icrypex. Rytas Vilnius held on against EWE Baskets Oldenburg in the Monday “Game of the Week”.
Another 4-1 team in the form of U-BT Cluj Napoca in Group G. The Romania champions outdueled Happy Casa Brindisi but are still threatened by Hapoel U-NET Holon. The Israeli side edged Darussafaka.
Basketball Champions League Regular Season Week 9 results and standings:
Group A
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
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
JDA Dijon – Lavrio Megabolt 73-49
Unicaja Malaga – Nizhny Novgorod 93-69
Standings
1. y-Unicaja Malaga 9 (4-1)
2. p-JDA Dijon 8 (3-2)
3. Lavrio Megabolt 7 (2-3)
4. Nizhny Novgorod 6 (1-4)
Group D
VEF Riga – NutriBullet Treviso 74-71
AEK – Falco Szombathely 83-89
Standings
1. Falco Szombathely 9 (4-1)
2. NutriBullet Treviso 8 (3-2)
3. p-VEF Riga 7 (2-3)
4. x-AEK 6 (1-4)
Group E
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
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
U-BT Cluj Napoca – Happy Casa Brindisi 104-94
Hapoel U-NET Holon – Darussafaka 64-57
Standings
1. U-BT Cluj Napoca 9 (4-1)
2. Hapoel U-NET Holon 8 (3-2)
3. Darussafaka 7 (2-3)
4. Happy Casa Brindisi 6 (1-4)
Group H
Rytas Vilnius – EWE Baskets Oldenburg 71-69
Besiktas Icrypex – Hereda San Pablo Burgos 75-82
Standings
1. Hereda San Pablo Burgos 9 (4-1)
2. Rytas Vilnius 8 (3-2)
3. Besiktas Icrypex 7 (2-3)
4. EWE Baskets Oldenburg 6 (1-4)
y-clinched Round of 16
p-clinched Play-In
x-eliminated
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League