FIBA Europe Cup - Wednesday round-up

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) -  Davon Jefferson starred on his debut as Gaziantep pulled away at the death to beat U-BT Cluj Napoca and secure their place in the second round of the FIBA Europe Cup with a 79-72 road win.

Jefferson finished with 28 points and 7 rebounds to lead Gaziantep in both categories in a crucial road win.

The two teams were tied at 64 when Andy Rautins hit a two-pointer for the visitors with 5:10 left, but that was the start of an 11-2 Gaziantep run that made it 73-66 on Jerry Jefferson’s two-pointer with 88 seconds left.

A three-pointer from Vlad-Sorin Moldoveanu 28 seconds from time gave Cluj hope as the gap was cut to 75-71, but Will Cherry and Rautins went to the line for Gaziantep and gave them an eight-point advantage with 18 seconds left - and there was no way back for the hosts.

BC Mures torched Prienu-Birstono from three-point range to win a high-scoring encounter and book their place in second round.

Mures hit 17-of-28 (61%) from deep to triumph 109-101 - a huge turnaround from their 99-61 loss in the reverse fixture and a win that puts them top of Group I at 3-1.

Mures took control early in the second quarter and even though Prienu-Birstono poured in 37 points in the fourth quarter, it was not enough to close the gap.

They gave it their best shot, with a 13-2 run closing the gap to 96-88 on Vytenis Civauskas’ three-pointer with 3:37 left, before finishing on a 9-2 run. 

Andrew Barham poured in 31 points for Mures, hitting eight of his nine attempts from three-point range. 

"They blew us out when we went to their place, so we needed to come out strong and win this game," Barham said. "I came out hard and made the first two shots. My team-mates kept finding me open and I made seven out of seven.

"We could have played better on the defensive end as we gave them 101 points. The offence is there so if we could play defence a little better we could be a really good team."

However, Prienu-Birstono head coach Virginias Seskus was far from impressed with what he saw from his team.

"This was our worst game of the season," he said. "Our biggest mistake was allowing them to control the game. In the first quarter we had only one personal foul. They have an extraordinary percentage from three-point range."

Full results

Group A
Brussels Basketball 69-80 Alba Fehervar 

Group B
Kormend 85-60 BCM Gravelines 

Group D
FC Porto 75-79 Nanterre 92 

Group F
Lukoil Academic 105-76 Steaua CSM
Prievidza 90-85 Bnei Herzliya 

Group G
Petrolina AEK 81-64 KB Peja
U-BT Cluj Napoca 72-79 Gaziantep 

Group H
Demir Insaat 93-77 BC Enisey
Rilski Sportist 100-98 Sigal Prishtina

Group I
BC Mures 109-101 Prienu-Birstono

Group J
Tsmoki-Minsk 78-82 BK Pardubice

FIBA