By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Following a 24-team Qualifiers field the 32-team Regular Season and the Play-Ins, eight teams survived the Round of 16 moving on to the Basketball Champions League Quarterfinals. The sixth and last week of the latest stage produced the holders of the five remaining tickets.
In Group I, Hapoel U-NET Holon rallying past JDA Dijon clinched the top seed and in the process knocked out the French club. Getting the job done on the road opposite Galatasaray Nef, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg finished in the second spot.
Romania champion U-BT Cluj Napoca won Group K and eliminated Filou Oostende thanks to the win at Versluys Dome. Idle Unicaja ended up in the second spot of the group reduced to three teams following the withdrawal of Prometey.
Red-hot Darussafaka taking down NutriBullet Treviso was not enough to progress. The advancing spots in Group J went to Baxi Manresa and Tofas Bursa after the Catalonian outlet secured the win and top seed via their direct collision.
Group L was already decided with Lenovo Tenerife and SIG Strasbourg ranked first and second, respectively.
First seeds: Lenovo Tenerife, U-BT Cluj Napoca, Baxi Manresa, Hapoel U-NET Holon.
Second seeds: SIG Strasbourg, Unicaja, Tofas Bursa, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg.
The Quarterfinals draw will be held Friday pairing the first seeds with the second seeds without country protection. However, teams from the same Round of 16 group can’t face each other again.
Action will resume on April 5 with the teams battling for a spot in the Final Four in a best-of-three series. The champion-crowning season-ending tournament will be held in Bilbao, May 6-8.
Basketball Champions League Round of 16 Week 6 results and standings:
Group I
Hapoel U-NET Holon – JDA Dijon 90-83
Galatasaray Nef – MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 58-64
Standings
1. Hapoel U-NET Holon 10 (4-2)
2. MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg 10 (4-2)
3. JDA Dijon 9 (3-3)
4. Galatasaray Nef 7 (1-5)
Group J
Baxi Manresa – Tofas Bursa 85-70
NutriBullet Treviso – Darussafaka 81-85
Standings
1. Baxi Manresa 10 (4-2)
2. Tofas Bursa 10 (4-2)
3. Darussafaka 10 (4-2)
4. NutriBullet Treviso 6 (0-6)
Group K
Filou Oostende – U-BT Cluj Napoca 74-85
Standings
1. U-BT Cluj Napoca 7 (3-1)
2. Unicaja 6 (2-2)
3. Filou Oostende 5 (1-3)
-. Prometey (withdrew from the competition)
Group L
Lenovo Tenerife – SIG Strasbourg 71-66
Falco Szombathely – Rytas Vilnius 86-81
Standings
1. Lenovo Tenerife 12 (6-0)
2. SIG Strasbourg 9 (3-3)
3. Rytas Vilnius 8 (2-4)
4. Falco Szombathely 7 (1-5)
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League