MUNICH  (Germany) - CS Rapid Bucuresti and Sabah BC took the first step towards reaching the FIBA Europe Cup Regular Season as they won their opening games of the Qualifying Tournaments.

After a tight first half, Bucaresti took charge of the game in the third quarter and rolled past Group A tournament hosts Rabotnicki Skopje 87-57 in the North Macedonian capital.

Sayeed Al-Kabir Pridgett paced the winners with 23 points among five players in double figures and Paulius Petrilevicius scored 16 points for the Romanian club, who gave up just 2 points in a dominant final quarter. D'mitrik Trice and Dorde Dzeletovic both tallied 15 points in the defeat.

Sayeed Al-Kabir Pridgett

In the other Group A game at SRC Kale, Azerbaijani side Sabah led for most of the second half against Donar Groningen and ended up winning 75-72 in a closely fought encounter. Donovan Smith secured the triumph with a lefty hook in the lane with 16 seconds to go.

Desmond Cambridge scored 19 points, Smith finished with 17 and Kyvon Davenport tallied 13 points and 9 rebounds for the victors, who will face the tournament hosts in their next game.

Sander Hollanders paced the Dutch opponents with 18 points off the bench and Theo John added a double-double of 16 points and 11 assists in the loss as their Regular Season hopes were dented.

After two games on Monday, the Qualifying Tournaments pick up in earnest on Tuesday with eight games spread out over four locations.

FIBA