MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – After starting their FIBA Europe Cup campaigns last week, participants of the competition were back in domestic action during the weekend.

There were ups and downs across the board, but the Cypriot Super Cup triumph by Petrolina AEK Larnaca stands out as the main storyline.

Elsewhere, Nanterre 92 saw their unbeaten run snapped in France, while CSM Steaua stayed hot in the Liga Nationala in Romania.

AEK Larnaca claim Cypriot Super Cup

AEK Larnaca marked the official start of the domestic basketball season in Cyprus by cruising past rivals Apoel Nicosia in the Cypriot Super Cup clash on Saturday night at the Eleftheria Indoor Hall in Nicosia for their first trophy of the season.

It was the hosts who led for almost the entire first half, but a strong second half saw AEK jump in front after the break and celebrate a seemingly convincing 92-75 victory at the final buzzer.

With eight minutes remaining, the Larnaca side was up only 67-63 and the game was still very much in the air. However, the visitors put on an impressive display to close out the contest, going on a 14-4 run to take a decisive lead in the fourth quarter.

Torey Thomas and Alexander Harris were the top scorers for AEK with 20 points apiece. Meanwhile, Robert Brown had a team-high 19 points for the losing side.

After an unsuccessful Basketball Champions League (BCL) campaign and an opening-night FIBA Europe Cup loss to Gaziantep, it was also the first victory for coach Linos Gavriel’s side in general this season.

Elan Chalon snap Nanterre 92 unbeaten run

After registering four wins in the first rounds of action in the French LNB Pro A and adding a victory against Sopron in the FIBA Europe Cup, Nanterre 92’s unbeaten run came to an end on Saturday.

Fellow FIBA Europe Cup participants Elan Chalon were very much the culprits on this occasion, marking their road trip to Nanterre with a 92-77 victory after outscoring the hosts 29-17 in the final quarter.

"Winning here, especially against a team that was undefeated, is undoubtedly a good performance. It makes up a little bit for our home defeat against Nancy last week. We knew that if we allowed them to play, they could get hot, but we defended well," said Elan Chalon guard Jeremy Nzeulie after the game.

John Roberson demonstrated top class for the Chalon sur Saone side with 22 points and 8 assists, while Nanterre point guard Chris Warren finished the game with 20 points and 6 assists, but his teammates simply could not keep up.

Steaua heating up in Romania

Steaua CSM bounced back after their opening week loss in the FIBA Europe Cup with a 90-86 victory against Romanian champions CSM CSU radea in the domestic championship, improving to a squeaky clean 4-0 record as a consequence.

Big man David Dudzinski scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed 9 rebounds, while fellow American Cameron Long added a double-double of 10 points and 13 assists.

As the only undefeated team in the league, Steaua sit atop the Liga Nationala standings, while another FIBA Europe Cup side U-BT Cluj Napoca is in second position with a solid 3-1 record.

Claudiu Fometescu's side lost the first their first game in the FIBA Europe Cup to BK Pardubice and will be hoping to bounce back on the international front against Lukoil Academic on Tuesday at home in Bucharest.

FIBA