Wednesday night defined by late drama

KORMEND (FIBA Europe Cup) - There was ample drama across the FIBA Europe Cup venues on an action-packed Wednesday night, with Egis Kormend going through a roller-coaster to clip Keravnos in overtime and three more games going right down to the wire.

The Gasper Potocnik-coached side wasted a 20-point lead in regulation and had their backs against the wall in the extra period, but overcame adversity to celebrate a 93-92 win against their Group D opponents from Cyprus.

The one-two punch of Andre Hollins and Eric Fanning combined for 45 points to help Kormend stay perfect by improving to a 3-0 mark in the standings against the previously undefeated Keravnos.

Having erased an enormous deficit, the Cypriots ran out of stream down the stretch and couldn't complete the comeback in spite of a 29-point and 13-rebound contribution from Mohamed Abukar.

In the other game of the group, Basic-Fit Brussels were able to end a similar turnaround on a victorious note, as they erased a 17-point deficit against BC Balkan to inscribe an 81-78 victory, their first of the campaign.

K.T. Harrell was a perfect 10-of-10 from the free-throw stripe and finished with a team-high 22 points, while Jeremy Simmons and Augustas Peciukevicius scored 17 and 16 respectively.

Meanwhile, in Group A action in Antwerp, Jason Clark came up with the big shot to hand Telenet Giants a 78-77 triumph over group leaders Donar Groningen, who suffered just their first defeat of the season.

Brandyn Curry had given the visitors from Netherlands a one-point edge, but the game hero Clark stepped up with the decisive go-ahead basket with seven seconds to go and Groningen failed to come up with a response.

It also took FC Porto a miracle final-minute escape to inscribe their first win in the Regular Season, with Marcus Gilbert coming to the rescue in an 85-84 victory against Kapfenberg Bulls in Group C.

The Portuguese side's forward scored the last four points of the game and not only overturned a three-point deficit in the final 16 seconds, but also had the final say from the free-throw stripe right at the death.

Gilbert shared a team-high 16-point mark with teammates Sasa Borovnjak and Will Hanley, with the latter also grabbing 10 rebounds for a double-double.

Having defeated Mornar Bar 81-76 in the other game of the group featuring two undefeated teams, Kataja Basket rose to the top of the standings in Group C with a 3-0 record.

Elsewhere, Avtodor Saratov downed SL Benfica 97-86 in a high-paced shootout in Group B, with Bakken Bears sinking BC Nevezis 86-71 despite a slow start that saw them trailing by double figures in the opening period.

U-BT Cluj-Napoca continued their winning start in Group E with an 88-73 victory over Lukoil Academic in Sofia, while Istanbul BBSK were also dominant, adding a 72-52 win over Dinamo Tbilisi to their account.

Alba Fehervar got their first taste of victory in Group F in their third try at home, as they held off Tsmoki-Minsk 73-64 in an up-and-down thriller. After a horrible start, they steadied the ship and sailed home with the win after outscoring their opponents 39-20 in the second half.

In Group G, Demir Insaat ended Sigal Prishtina's three-game winning streak with an impressive 86-59 victory in Istanbul behind a 16-point, 9-assist game from Bracey Wright to improve to a 2-1 mark.

Szolnoki Olaj also advanced to 2-1 in Group H in similar fashion, as their three-headed monster of Luksa Andric, David Vojvoda and Kendrick Perry handed a 97-71 defeat to Nizhny Novgorod, who had won both of their games before the big upset in Hungary.

FIBA