Landes stun title holders Sopron; Schio survive on the road

MUNICH (Germany) - Reigning champions Sopron Basket have been left sweating on their potential ticket to the Quarter-Finals after slipping up on home soil against the already eliminated Basket Landes.

The Hungarian club fell to a 62-59 defeat at the hands of the underdogs, meaning there will be two tickets from Group B decided on the very last week of the Regular Season, with Sopron, Spar Girona and Perfumerias Avenida all still in contention.

Buoyed by the return of influential center Bernadett Hatar making a playing return having previously spent the entire campaign sidelined with a serious injury, Sopron had initially looked on course to book their spot. They led by six points at the interval and looked comfortable, but as it proved, perhaps too comfortable. 

But Landes dug in and kept themselves in the game with an improved second half to set up a nervous last few minutes. They managed to execute down the stretch better than the home team, with Sopron laboring on offense and scoring just seven points in the last 10 minutes. Regan Magarity was excellent for Landes with an all-action 16 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Beretta Famila Schio had already wrapped up their Quarter-Finals place 24 hours before stepping out in Belgium - courtesy of CBK Mersin Yenisehir Bld completing a dramatic overtime success at Spar Girona.

The Italian side still went out and got the win against Kangoeroes Mechelen, although only just. They managed to dig it out 74-73 and had to survive a major scare since their opponents had the last possession of the contest.

Marina Mabrey led the way for Schio with 19 points, while Morgan Bertsch and Ziomara Morrison both did great work for Mechelen. The former netted 26 points and the latter added15 points and 11 rebounds. 

FIBA