By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Plenty of action left in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 but both Lenovo Tenerife and Tofas Bursa earned a head start in the race to secure a spot in the Quarterfinals, the last stage of the competition before the season-ending Final Four.
The inaugural BCL champions went up to 2-0 in Group L after comfortably defeating SIG Strasbourg at Rhenus Sport. The hosts missing red-hot John Roberson helped to obtain full control on the road. Elsewhere, Rytas Vilnius edged Falco Szombathely jumping to 1-1.
Tofas made it to 2-0 in Group J with a second straight win at home. After taking down Turkish rival Darussafaka last week, the team coached by Ahmet Caki bested Baxi Manresa. Meanwhile, Dacka bounced back with a convincing win opposite NutriBullet Treviso.
From loss to win for JDA Dijon as well. Rashard Kelly posted his fourth double-double of the season starring versus Hapoel U-NET Holon in Group I action.
Another team improving to 1-1, Unicaja blew out Filou Oostende in the lone Group K affair this week.
Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Week 2 schedule and standings:
Group I
JDA Dijon – Hapoel U-NET Holon 78-66
Standings
1. JDA Dijon 3 (1-1)
2. MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 2 (1-0)
3. Hapoel U-NET Holon 1 (0-1)
4. Galatasaray Nef 0 (0-0)
Group J
Darussafaka – NutriBullet Treviso 88-76
Tofas Bursa – Baxi Manresa 74-68
Standings
1. Tofas Bursa 4 (2-0)
2. Darussafaka 3 (1-1)
3. Baxi Manresa 1 (0-1)
4. NutriBullet Treviso 1 (0-1)
Group K
Unicaja – Filou Oostende 75-59
Standings
1. Unicaja 3 (1-1)
2. U-BT Cluj Napoca 2 (1-0)
3. Filou Oostende 1 (0-1)
4. Prometey 0 (0-0)
Group L
Rytas Vilnius – Falco Szombathely 91-88
SIG Strasbourg – Lenovo Tenerife 67-85
Standings
1. Lenovo Tenerife 4 (2-0)
2. SIG Strasbourg 3 (1-1)
3. Rytas Vilnius 3 (1-1)
4. Falco Szombathely 2 (0-2)
-Top two teams of each group advance to the Quarterfinals
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League