Eurocup: Cantu, Bilbao and Unics now 4-0

The fourth round of the Eurocup regular season is in the books after yesterday’s action. Only three teams keep their bragging rights of still remaining without a blemish in their Loss Column. Italy’s Pallacanestro Cantu and Russia’s Unics Kazan won their match-ups and sit atop of their respective groups. Spain’s Bilbao Basket handled Elan Chalon sur Saone in their game on November 5.

Here are some brief summaries of the games on November 6.

Group A

Pallancanestro Cantu vs. CEZ Nymburk, 88:73

Cantu now at 4-0 dominated the now 1-3 CEZ Nymburk from the get-go. Import Joe Ragland and local player Stefano Gentile provided the one-two punch for Cantu. Ragland had a very strong game, doing almost everything on both sides of the court. He scored 19 points, grabbed six rebounds, dished out seven assists and also got four steals for the night. Gentile, on the other hand, did most of his damage from downtown as he was able to knock down 4 of 7 of his shots from beyond the arc.

Even though all of the CEZ Nymburk starters were able to crack the double-figure scoring barrier, their bench was dry and lackluster. Dylan Page led his team from the Czech Republic with 16 points and four assists. Local player Vojtech Hruban added 13, Radoslav Rancik scored 12 and Chester Simmons chipped in 10 markers.

Telenet BC Oostende vs. KK Cibona VIP Zagreb, 77:75

The narrow margin in the end, tells the story of how the home team snuck through with the victory. The game was close with each team taking the lead in each of the first two quarters. Oostende capped the first half of the game with a 10-point lead, 41:31.

The Croatian team was not to be outdone. They came back with a rally during the third frame and went on a tear, scoring 28 points in the quarter. Their offensive surge was enough to cut the lead to just a couple of points, 59:61. Oostende held on tight in the final quarter and kept the Croatian squad at bay to finish with the win.

Cibona was carried by the 21 points scored by Jerel Blassingame. Andrija Zizic scored 14 off the bench and Dario Saric added 11 points and nine boards. Ryan Thompson led Oostende with 15 points and Dusan Djordjevic poured in 14. While they were the only players who scored in double figures, the team effort was evident in the balanced scoring. Three players contributed nine points each while a couple added seven.

Group B

KK Cedevita Zagreb vs. Banco di Sardegna Sassari, 94:83

Cedevita took a come-from-behind route to victory, surging in the final quarter to swing the game’s momentum their way. Sassari was stunned as they imploded, allowing Cedevita to go on 32:4. The result of this battle leaves both teams with an identical record in Group B with 2-2.

The tournament’s sixth leading scorer (19.0 ppg), Sassari’s Drake Diener had a quiet game with just 14 points. Omar Thomas and Caleb Green took up the cudgels of the scoring burden with Thomas scoring 21 points and Green adding 20 of his own. Brian Sacchetti scored a dozen points off the bench, but he was the lone bright spot among Sassari’s reserves.

Cedevita’s Nolan Smith erupted for 20 points, making 4 of his 5 shots from three-point range. He was also instrumental when it came to turning the tide and getting his team on their run. Goran Sutton dropped a double-double performance with 17 points and 10 boards while Ivan Ramljak added 15 points as the top two scoring starters for Cedevita.

Belgacom Spirou Chareloi vs. EWE Baskets Oldenburg, 53:70

It was a “walk in the park” for EWE Baskets as they took charge of the game from second frame and ran away with the victory from there. They are now 3-1 and are hot on the trail of group-leading Bilbao Basket. It was a tough loss for Spirou to swallow at home, but the German club came on strong, leading by 13 at the half, 36:23. The home team could not bring more to the table in the third frame and EWE Baskets set the stage with 22-point lead going into the fourth quarter.  Spirou pushed hard in the final quarter, but it was a case of “too little, too late” and EWE Baskets cruised to victory.

Devin Green and Joe Trapani were the only ones who were able to score in double figures for Spirou. Green posted 12, while Trapani hit for 10. EWE Baskets, dominated with four of their players hitting 10 points or more, but it was Rickey Paulding who led all of them with 15 points and two steals.

Group C

Valencia Basket vs. Cimberio Varese, 98:64

Valencia is now 3-1 in Group C, tied with co-winners of the night, Ratiopharm Ulm. This is a tightly contested group with both teams displaying their strengths versus their respective opponents. Valencia rolled over Cimberio Varese with a convincing 34-point margin at the sound of the final horn. They came out strong in the first quarter and snowballed their momentum and their lead from the second frame onwards.

Valencia’s Justin Doellman dominated the game with a game-high 26 points and six rebounds. He was unstoppable, going 8-9 from two-point range and going for a perfect 7-7 from the line.  Pablo Aguilar played 20 minutes and added 16 points off the bench, while starters Sam Van Rossom and Oliver Lafayette contributed 13 points apiece.

Cimberio was led by Aubrey Coleman who delivered 14 points. Frank Hassell was his support with 11.

Ratiopharm Ulm vs. Union Olimpija Ljubljana, 83:80

Ratiopharm won at home to keep pace with Valencia, maintaining identical 3-1 records. The visitors started the game strong and motivated, scoring 26 points in the first frame to end it with a three-point lead. Ratiopharm turned the tables on them in the second quarter as they dictated the tempo of the game from the point and were able to hoist up a 10-point margin by the half-way break, 54:44.  Union Olimpija drew the game closer and narrowed the margin at the end of the third frame. Ratiopharm was able to push and get a 80:76 advantage in the dying minutes of the game and held off the visitors and get another notch on the “W” column.

Ratiopharm got its boost from import Will Clyburn who dropped 17 points on the visiting team. Edgar Sosa put together an efficient game, making the most of his 16 minutes on the floor with 11 points.

Union Olimpija got 18 points and 10 rebounds from local player Alen Omic. He was one of five players of the Slovenian team to score in double figures, but Ratiopharm’s balanced attack overcame their effort.

***

Here are the results from the games in the other groups.

Group D

Telekom Baskets Bonn vs. Belfius Mons-Hainaut, 74:63

CAI Zaragoza vs. Virtus Roma, 74:68

Group E

PAOK Thessaloniki vs. Khimik-Opz Yuhzny, 77:69

KK Buducnost Voli Podgorica vs. Alba Fehervar, 67:61

Aykon TED Kolejliler Ankara  vs. BC Nizhny Novgorod, 72:73

Group G

VEF Riga vs. Unics Kazan, 68:86

KK MZT Skopje Aerodrom vs. BC Kalev/Cramo Tallinn, 79:70

Maccabi Bazan Haifa vs. Banvit Basketbol Kulubu, 72:69

Group H

Nilan Bisons Loimaa vs. Spartak St. Petersburg, 74:73

Neptunas Klaipeda vs. Radnicki Kragujevac, 97:101

Besiktas Istanbul vs. Panionios ON Telecoms Athens, 71:57