FIBA Europe Cup - Round of 32 Week 5 review

MUNICH (Germany) - Seven teams secured a berth in the next stage of the FIBA Europe Cup during Round of 32 Week 5 play, raising the total number to nine and leaving only seven tickets up for grabs on the final game day, next week.

The teams that sealed this week their passage to the Round of 16 are ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne, Maccabi Rand Media Rishon (Group O); Port of Antwerp Giants (Group P); Türk Telekom Ankara (Group Q); Elan Chalon (Group R); Royal Hali Gaziantep (Group U); and Openjobmetis Varese (Group V).

They join Telenet Oostende and Fraport Skyliners, who had already secured qualification during Week 4 action.

Furthermore, the Skyliners are now the only team to still march undefeated in the FIBA Europe Cup with 11 wins in as many games, as Khimik Yuzhne suffered their first defeat in the competition on Tuesday, 95-89 at Belfius Mons-Hainaut.

Of the seven remaining tickets to the Round of 16, one will go to either BK Ventspils or CEZ Nymburk in Group P, one to either Petrolina AEK Larnaca or Tsmoki Minsk in Group V, while one of Enisey Krasnoyarsk, Foxtown Cantú or Tartu University Rock will take the second ticket from Group R.

Nonetheless, Group S and Group T are poised to be the most hotly contested until the final minute of Round of 32 action next week, as the top two spots in both those pools are still up for grabs.

All four teams in Group S will arrive on the final gameday of Round of 32 with options to advance and the same applies to the leading three teams in Group T, where only Bakken Bears Aarhus has dropped out of contention.

Stats of the week

Whether by accident or by design, Royal Hali Gaziantep sent Fraport Skyliners to the charity stripe again and again during their Wednesday clash.

The Skyliners were only happy to oblige, as they attempted 38 free-throws, a new FIBA Europe Cup record.

The Frankfurt team converted 32 of them, which is also the highest number of shots from the foul line any team has scored in a single game in the competition so far, and won the game 91-79.

Meanwhile in Belgium, Port Of Antwerp Giants endured a rather poor shooting night but rectified for their lack of accuracy in the best way possible, as they brought down 23 offensive rebounds, a new FIBA Europe Cup record.

Antwerp out-rebounded Ventspils 47-to-37 overall and held on for an 80-78 victory which secured them a spot in the Round of 16.

Performance of the week

Le Havre tried everything against Lamont Mack on Wednesday night to no avail, as the Energia Targu-Jiu power forward registered one of the best outings of his career.

Mack went into the game shooting 44% from three-point range and averaging 4.3 attempts per contest, but on Wednesday he took 10 triples and drilled seven of them.

He collected a season-high 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the floor and added four rebounds to power Energia to a fantastic 79-60 win on the road that gives them an important advantage in the qualification race in Group S.

Need more time

Cibona Zagreb's bid to advance to the Round of 16 hangs from a thread following their 84-82 loss to Pieno Zvaigzdes on Wednesday night, in what was their third overtime game in as many encounters at home in the Round of 32.

The Croatian team came out on top the first time they played an extra period, 93-88 over Energia Targu-Jiu in Week 1, but then lost 113-106 to STB Le Havre before falling to Pieno Zvaigzdes.

No other team has been involved in so many overtime games in the Round Of 32 and the fact that Cibona's roster is laden with young talent has influenced their ability to close out games and cost them loses that perhaps a more experienced team would have avoided.

That said, there is no more sure way for young players to develop than playing big minutes in games that really matter and, even if Cibona do not manage to advance to the Round of 16, this FIBA Europe Cup campaign has been extremely valuable to their development.

Surprises of the week

Tartu Rock travelled to Italy for their game against Foxtown Cantú with their backs against the wall, as they were carrying a 0-4 record in Group R, but pulled a rabbit out of a hat and rode away with a 76-71 win that keeps them alive in the qualification race.

The Estonian team will advance if they defeat Enisey by a margin of 20 points or bigger and Cantú lose to Elan Chalon next week.

Rosa Radom also went into their Wednesday home game against Södertälje Kings on a 0-4 record but in an even more dire situation than Tartu, since they had abolished all hope of advancing from Group U.

None the less, the Polish team delivered an excellent showing for the benefit of their home crowd and in the interest of Fair Play, picking up an 81-77 win that knocked Södertälje out of contention.

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