Eurocup: EWE beats Bilbao to top Group B

Eurocup Week 5 of the 2013/2014 Eurocup got underway as the competitions Regular Season landed at the half way point. Six of this weeks 24 games were contested on Tuesday night and it was business as usual for teams vying at the tops of groups. The big game of the night was in Germany, where Group B pace setters EWE Baskets Oldenburg and Bilbao Basket clashed at the EWE Arena, with the home team taking the win. Elsewhere in Group B Cedevita Zagreb visited Elan Chalon sur Saone and came away with a vital road win.

In Group A, CEZ Basketball Nymburk hosted and defeated Artland Dragons as both teams sought to kick-start their so far poor Eurocup campaigns. Elsewhere it was a full calendar in Group D as all teams took to the court with Alba Berlin beating Belfius Mons Hainaut on the road, BCM Gravelines Dunkerque taking the spoils at home to CAI Zaragoza, and Virtus Roma slipping to defeat against Telekom Baskets Bonn in front of their own fans.

Group A

CEZ Basketball Nymburk – Artland Dragons, 86:70
Czech team Nymburk run through a relatively comfortable win against the Artland Dragons from Germany, and the home team´s record now reads 2-3. It was another poor result for the Dragons as they slip to a disappointing 1-4.

Artland took the opening 10 minutes by reeling off 23 points to Nymburk´s 20, but the home team responded emphatically in the second frame by outscoring the Dragons by 23 to 8. At the half time buzzer the Czech team held a commanding 43-31 lead and despite Artland getting to within 6 points heading into the fourth quarter, the second half proved to be fairly comfortable for the hosts.

Nymburk´s win was posted on the back of 24-points from Dylan Page (204 cm, Wisconsin-Milwaukee´04) and 13 points from Chester Simmons (196 cm, Washington´05).

Brandon Thomas (198 cm, Massachusetts´07) and Michael Wenzl kept things respectable for Artland with 16 points each.

Group B

EWE Baskets Oldenburg – Bilbao Basket, 91:86
EWE Baskets Oldenburg laid a first Eurocup defeat on Bilbao Basket in the pick of Tuesday´s games. The German team claimed the victory to take its record to 4-1 and usurp Bilbao´s position at the top of Group B. Spanish club Bilbao will look to bounce back next week, but will still be confident despite seeing the record slip to 4-1.

In a fairly close match the home team always seemed to stay one step ahead of their Spanish visitors. Oldenburg opened the game by claiming the first period 25:22 and kept up the pace during the second ten by opening a 7 point lead at the midway interval to lead 51-44. The German team continued to mount the pressure during the third segment and opened up a 10 point gap heading into the final quarter. Bilbao had never really been close enough in the game to mount a serious challenge and the fourth went to form as Oldenburg sealed the win.

Rickey Paulding (196 cm, Missouri´04) shot 21 points for the winners, while Julius Jenkins (187 cm, Georgia South´03) provided 17. Robin Smeulders (206 cm, Portland´10) was also on hand to provide double figures by scoring 13.

Bilboa´s underwhelming performance saw Dairis Bertans score 15 and Raul Lopez post 12.

Group D

Belfius Mons Hainaut – ALBA Berlin, 75-85
ALBA Berlin continued its fine start to the Eurocup season with a coasting win over Group D basement club Belfius Mons Hainaut on the road. The German team is now looking at a 4-1 record and tops the group while Belgian team Mons has still to get off the mark this campaign and has a record of 0-5.

The hosts opened the game with a confident first quarter by carving out a 16-14 lead after 10 minutes. That was about as good as it was going to get for the Belgian outfit as Berlin organized in the second and went through the gears to go into the changing rooms leading by 32 points to 27. ALBA maintained consistency in the third period and opened up a 7 point cushion at the end of the quarter. Heading into the fourth Mons would have needed a quick turnaround but instead it was Berlin who opened the lead to 10 points to take a comfortable road win.

David Logan (185 cm, Indianapolis´05) set the pace for Berlin with 20 points and was backed up by Vojdan Stojanovski with 12 points.

Talor Battle (182 cm, Penn State´11) looked good for the home team with 14 points, while Demontez Stitt (196 cm, Clemson´11) and Monwell Randle (203 cm, Southeast Missouri State´04) claimed 13 points each for the losers.

***
Here are the results from the other game played on the night.

Group B

Elan Chalon sur Saone vs. Cedevita Zagreb, 65:80

Group D

BCM Gravelines Dunkerque vs. CAI Zaragoza, 85:67
Virtus Roma vs. Telekom Baskets Bonn, 75:85

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