By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
A second opportunity to reach the Round of 16 of the Basketball Champions League concerns 16 teams ranking in the middle seeds of the eight groups at the end of the Regular Season. Five teams finishing third bounced back by getting the job done on the road in Gameday 1 on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Mastering these situations as a player, Vassilis Spanoulis guided Peristeri bwin to an emphatic away win against Rytas. Joe Ragland, the player with the most double-doubles in league history, tallied 25 points and 15 assists in a breathtaking performance in the capital of Lithuania.
Fellow Greek club Promitheas also broke homecourt advantage in the best-of-three series starting at Antares. Le Mans cut into a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter but fell short of a seemingly impossible comeback.
Brandon Jefferson posted a double-double highlighting an impressive performance for Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari in La Meilleraie. Dominating Cholet set up a clinching opportunity at home next week.
Road warriors from Turkiye emerged as well.
Galatasaray Ekmas survived a crazy finish to top Bertram Derthona Tortona and Tofas routed PAOK mateco behind a brilliant showing by returning Marcus Denmon. Errick McCollum took over for Pinar Karsiyaka to instead protect homecourt advantage by holding on against Rio Breogan.
Relocating home from Latvia to Hungary, Hapoel Holon made it to 1-0 against Filou Oostende.
Elsewhere, MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg made short work of rebuilding Darussafaka Lassa.
Basketball Champions League Play-Ins
|
Game 1 |
Game 2 |
Game 3* |
|
| Le Mans – Promitheas | 68-78 |
9/1 |
16/1 |
| Rytas – Peristeri bwin | 92-110 |
10/1 |
17/1 |
| Cholet – Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari | 72-93 |
10/1 |
17/1 |
| MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg – Darussafaka Lassa |
10/1 |
16/1 |
|
| Pinar Karsiyaka – Rio Breogan | 89-85 |
10/1 |
17/1 |
| Hapoel Holon – Filou Oostende | 80-70 |
9/1 |
16/1 |
| PAOK mateco – Tofas |
9/1 |
16/1 |
|
| Bertram Derthona Tortona – Galatasaray Ekmas | 70-71 |
9/1 |
17/1 |
*if necessary
Photo Credit: Basketball Champions League