MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Almost half of the weekly FIBA Europe Cup games are complete after an action-packed Tuesday, but there are plenty of exciting match-ups on Wednesday’s schedule as well, with nine more games to come.

Two especially intriguing battles will take place in Gaziantep and Pardubice, where the local sides will welcome U-BT Cluj-Napoca and Tsmoki respectively.

While all four of these teams will set out to add their second wins, there will be some others hoping to bounce back after undesirable outcomes in the opening week. A number of them will definitely claim first wins of the season, with four of the games involving two winless teams.

All of the games will be streamed FREE and live on youtube.com/FIBA – make sure you tune in!

Gaziantep v U-BT Cluj-Napoca | 18:00 CET

Marcus Denmon was the star of the first week of FIBA Europe Cup, marking the start of the season with a 35-point outburst in a 93-86 overtime victory against Petrolina AEK Larnaca.

Gaziantep will need more of the same on Wednesday, when they host U-BT Cluj-Napoca in Group G. With both teams still undefeated, the game will determine who gets to stay atop the standings for at least one more week.

In addition to Denmon, Gaziantep has quite a large cast of potential difference-makers on its roster, from starting point guard Will Cherry to the likes of Jure Balazic and Tomislav Ruzic on the block.

While the Romanian side did not need an extra period to claim an 85-76 victory against KB Peja from Kosovo, the last couple of minutes of the game were no less dramatic.

Things were tied with 42 seconds left, but Aleksandar Rasic and Filip Adamovic went on a quick scoring spree and dropped nine points during the time remaining.

Kyndall Dykes finished the game as the leading scorer with 27 points on 12-of-18 shooting from the field, while Adamovic added 17 points and 7 assists.

Having only turned the ball over eight times against Peja, U-BT Cluj Napoca need to take care of the ball equally well in the upcoming game against Gaziantep.

BK Pardubice v Tsmoki Minsk | 18:00 CET

After taking the win in the opening game of the season at the Tipsport Arena, BK Pardubice will hope to put home court advantage to use one more time against the visiting Tsmoki-Minsk side from Belarus in Group J.

Led by Lamb Autrey who had 21 points and 5 assists, the Czech side nipped Apoel Nicosia 80-75 last week in what could only be described as a close escape for Pardubice.

"The fans got involved [in the second half] and it just got the team’s confidence going. It was a good win for us, but we need to focus on the next game," said the team’s top scorer Autrey last week.

Four players combined for 72 of the team’s 80 points, so getting some more help from others will be a thing coach Levell Sanders will want his team to improve on.

Tsmoki had an easier time in their opening foray, defeating Siauliai 86-71 at home in Minsk while shooting at an incredible 11-of-23 clip from long-range.

Maintaining such a three-point percentage might be unrealistic, but it was hardly an accident either, with the Belarusian team moving the ball extremely well, dishing out 27 assists as a team.

Dru Joyce exemplified the team's overall play with a personal performance of 11 points and 11 dimes, while Justin Gray added 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in just under 22 minutes.

Tsmoki managed to follow up their FIBA Europe Cup victory with a home win in the VTB League and continued building momentum. The only thing they will not have going in their favour on Wednesday is home court advantage, which is often an underestimated factor.

FIBA