Double Israeli delight: Elitzur Holon, Elitzur Landco Ramla build first leg leads

MUNICH (Germany) - Israeli duo Elitzur Holon and Elitzur Landco Ramla had eye-catching first leg wins in the Round of 16 on Thursday night, with AZS UMCS Lublin and Villeneuve D'Ascq LM also successful.

Elitzur Holon surprised top seeds Umana Reyer Venezia 83-68, the result mainly attained by a fine last 10 minutes of action when the home team restricted the visitors to just 9 points and poured in 25 to get onto the front foot in the tie. Although Holon will be wary that Reyer suffered a big loss in the first game of their Play-Off Round 1 tie and bounced back on home soil to advance. 

Courtney Hurt starred for Holon with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Alex Harden had 17 points and 9 boards. The main response from the visitors was via Jessica Shepard with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while exciting prospect Matilde Villa logged 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.

Alysha Clark and Shakira Austin were both immense for Ramla as they eye up a Quarter-Finals spot

Elitzur Landco Ramla are rapidly looking like potential favorites for the prestigious trophy if they continue to play the way they did in brushing aside InvestInTheWest Enea Gorzow 85-63. Handing them a healthy advantage for next week's clash, this was a performance founded firmly on three leading contributors and a 25-11 third quarter.

Shakira Austin lit it up yet again with 21 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks, Alysha Clark weighed in with 23 points after going 9 of 11 from the field and Alyssa Baron amassed 24 points, 6 boards and 3 assists. 

Another Polish club in the shape of AZS UMCS Lublin did manage to get a win as they outlasted Casademont Zaragoza 69-66 and in the process, became the first team to inflict a loss on the Spaniards this season.

It was a clash with big contrasts as a defensively dominated 10-7 second quarter was followed by a 26-26 last period. Natasha Mack had 11 points, 12 rebounds and 5 big blocks, while Sparkle Taylor added 22 points and playmaker Aleksandra Stanacev produced 18 points and 8 assists to take Lublin to victory.  Markeisha Gatling netted 17 points for Zaragoza who will still be confident of progressing.



Finally, Villeneuve D'Ascq LM collected a nice 74-66 road win at NKA Universitas Peac off the back of a magnificent showing from Kamiah Smalls. She balled out with a smart 24 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and just 1 turnover in 40 minutes of game time.  Virag Kiss was the main threat for the Hungarians after the forward stepped off the court with 20 points and 9 rebounds to her name.

The second leg ties take place next week with all eight games scheduled to be played on Wednesday.

FIBA