MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Another action-packed gameday will send off the best FIBA Europe Cup Second Round teams to the Round of 16, with the second phase of the competition set to conclude on Wednesday.

After winning against Alba Fehervar in Hungary on Tuesday, Pau-Lacq-Orthez joined fellow French side as the second team to advance to the next round, leaving six more vacancies in the next phase of the competition for Second Round teams.

We would like to remind you that the best eight FIBA Europe Cup teams will be joined by eight more sides from the Basketball Champions League who fell just short of qualifying to the Play-Offs.

Group K

Elan Chalon (5-0) have already booked their place in the Round of 16 as the only undefeated team in the Second Round, and simply need to avoid defeat by more than 20 points to assure they remain top of the group.

It will be a tough ask for Gaziantep to overturn that deficit from the first game in France - a 102-83 loss - and finish top of the group, however a victory by any amount will confirm their spot in the next phase. Even a loss will still see them sitting in a prime spot to claim one of the tickets for the two best second-placed teams

The game between Sodertalje Kings (1-4) and Mures (0-5) will not impact the Round of 16 race in any way.

Group L

Antwerp Giants (3-2) lost control of their own destiny with a defeat to the already eliminated BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque (2-3) last week, as Demir Insaat (4-1) jumped to top in the Group L standings.

However, due to the fact that the Belgian side have a head-to-head advantage over their Turkish rivals, the Giants could regain pole position if Demir Insaat were also to slip up against the French team. This scenario would also require Antwerp to take care of business against Prievidza (1-3) on the road.

Even if they do not pass Buyukcekmece in the standings, the Giants could qualify as one of the best second-placed teams if they register a win. Their points differential is a competitive, yet unassuming +23 right now. However, a loss in Slovak Republic would eliminate them from contention altogether.

If Demir Insaat dropped to second place, they would be in relatively solid positions due to their points differential sky-rocketing to +57 after two big wins against Prievidza.

Both Gravelines and Prievidza have no chances of advancing, but the French side could climb to second place in Group L in the right set of circumstances.

Group M

Key battles will be taking place in all of the groups, but the game between Vytautas (4-1) and Telekom Baskets Bonn (4-1) in Group M stands out as possibly the most impactful of them all.

The situation could not be more clear-cut in the standings, with the winner of the match-up claiming the top spot in the standings and a direct ticket to the Round of 16 as well.

Barring any significant blowouts, a point differential of +97 should be enough for the German side to withstand a defeat in Lithuania and still qualify as one of the top second-placed teams.

Meanwhile, the Prienai-Birstonas side might not have the luxury of slipping up. Their plus-minus stands at +21 and Vytautas would need some results to go their way in other groups to progress as the second seed from Group M.

The game between APOEL (1-4) and Redwell-Gunners Oberwart (1-4) will decide order in the second half of the standings, but will have no impact on the Round of 16 race.

Group N

Nanterre 92 (4-1) returned to the top of Group N standings with a big win against Bnei Herzliya (1-4) last week, but cannot be sure about their future in the Round of 16 just yet.

A victory against Tsmoki (2-3) in Minsk would book the French side’s tickets to the next stage, but a loss would give currently second-placed Kormend (3-2) an opportunity to overtake the current group leaders from Nanterre.

The Gasper Potocnik-coached Hungarian side have the head-to-head advantage against Nanterre, but trail the French club in the victory column by one game.

Whether it brings them to the top of the table or not, Kormend’s last game of the Second Round at home against Bnei Herzliya is a must-win in order to preserve Round of 16 hopes.

Heading into the final week of action, Nanterre have a points differential of +58, while Kormend are in a slightly less comfortable position with their combined Second Round plus-minus showing +33.

No matter how the games finish, Tsmoki will stay third in Group N and Bnei Herzliya can no longer climb out of fourth place.

Group O

Pau-Lacq-Orthez (4-2) have qualified to the Round of 16 directly as the first-placed team in Group O after defeating Alba Fehervar (4-2) 81-78 on Tuesday. The Hungarian side finished second, but their qualification as one of the two best-ranked second-placed teams is almost impossible.

Unless BK Pardubice (1-4) can defeat U-BT Cluj-Napoca (2-3) by more than 17 points in the last remaining game of the group, the Romanian side will finish third in the standings.

Group P

The situation in Group P is unique from the other five groups, with three teams still in the race for the Round of 16. Current group leaders Enisey (4-1) are closely pursued by Lukoil Academic and Donar Groningen, both of whom share 3-2 records.

The Russian team would clinch the top spot in the standings with a victory against bottom of the pack SL Benfica (0-5). In this scenario, the game between Academic and Donar would just decide which of the two teams finishes second.

However, there is a fine twist if Enisey lose in Portugal.

Since Enisey only hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against Lukoil Academic and not Donar Groningen, the combination of an Enisey loss and a Donar victory would result in the Dutch club winning the group.

Due to Enisey holding the tiebreaker, Lukoil Academic cannot expect to finish higher than second place in the standings. However, the Bulgarian team can still theoretically qualify as one of the best-ranked second-placed teams, as they have a decent point differential at +21.

In this regard, Enisey (+50) are by far in the best position, while Donar Groningen have the worst points differential among all teams still eligible to claim one of the lucky loser spots.

FIBA