Wednesday preview: Six more teams step on the Quarter-Final stage

MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) - Bakken Bears and ESSM Le Portel raised the curtain on the Quarter-Finals in Aarhus, but there are three more equally exciting duels yet to take place in first-leg action on Wednesday.

Juventus Utena and Sidigas Scandone Avellino will renew their old rivalry in Lithuania, Mornar Bar will be counting on home court advantage against Donar Groningen in Montenegro, with Umana Reyer Venezia and Nizhny Novgorod engaging in a heavyweight bout in Italy.

Juventus Utena v Sidigas Scandone Avellino

The name of their Lithuanian opponents will sound familiar to Sidigas Scandone Avellino not only because of an identically-named football powerhouse in Turin, but also due to the fact that Juventus Utena have been regular guests in the country as well. In fact, they played each other in the Basketball Champions League last season, with Sidigas Scandone Avellino registering two double-digit wins, 85-75 in Utena and 74-64 in Avellino. Dovis Bickauskis is the only current Juventus player to have participated in those games, with three returning players on the Italian side's roster: Kyrylo Fesenko, Andrea Zerini and Maarten Leunen.

Time: Wednesday, 17:30 CET
Domestic Form: Juventus continue to struggle in the LKL, falling to 8th place with an 88-83 defeat against Lietkabelis on the road in Panevezys. They have now lost five games in a row and have a 9-17 record. Third-placed Avellino came up short against Varese in Serie A, losing 82-75 away from home and falling to 15-7.
Key Matchup: Mindaugas Kupsas v Kyrylo Fesenko
How They Qualified: Juventus defeated Lukoil Academic 168-160 in the Basketball Champions League QR 3… transferred to FIBA Europe Cup after finishing 6th in Group A of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season with a 4-10 record…defeated Alba Fehervar 163-152 in the Round of 16; Avellino qualified to the Basketball Champions League Regular Season directly…transferred to FIBA Europe Cup after finishing 5th in Group D of the Basketball Champions League Regular Season with a 6-8 record…defeated Tsmoki-Minsk 151-142 in the Round of 16.
Live Stream: YouTube.com/FIBA

Mornar Bar v Donar Groningen

Although a convincing Round of 16 display against U-BT Cluj-Napoca will have given Donar Groningen plenty of confidence ahead of the Quarter-Finals, they will be approaching the first game in Bar with particular caution after seeing the Oostende ship sink on Montenegrin shores last week. In fine form of late, Mornar are 6-1 at the Topolica Sports Hall this season in the FIBA Europe Cup, with their only defeat coming in overtime against Bakken Bears in the Second Round. Despite qualifying for the Play-Offs as one of the 'lucky losers', the Derek Needham and Nemanja Vranjes-led Montenegrins should not be taken lightly by anyone, especially at home.

Time: Wednesday, 19:30 CET
Domestic Form: Mornar began the ABA League Play-Offs with a 91-63 defeat against Regular Season winners Crvena Zvezda in Game 1 of the Semi-Finals, falling behind 1-0 in the series. Donar extended their winning streak in the Dutch Basketball League to 15 games, improving to 20-2 in the standings with a 79-66 win over BAL Weert on Saturday.
Key Matchup: Derek Needham v Brandyn Curry
How They Qualified: Mornar transferred to FIBA Europe Cup after losing 158-132 to Avtodor Saratov in Basketball Champions League QR2…won Group C of the Regular Season with a 4-2 record; finished 3rd in Group K of the Second Round with a 3-3 record…defeated Oostende 161-147 in the Round of 16; Donar defeated Vytautas Prienai-Birstonas 159-138 in Basketball Champions League QR1…defeated Bakken Bears 169-163 in Basketball Champions League QR2…transferred to FIBA Europe Cup after losing 153-145 to Movistar Estudiantes in Basketball Champions League QR3…finished 2nd in Group A of the Regular Season with a 4-2 record…won Group L of the Second Round with a 4-2 record…defeated U-BT Cluj-Napoca 179-145 in the Round of 16.
Live Stream: YouTube.com/FIBA

Umana Reyer Venezia v Nizhny Novgorod

After breezing past their Round of 16 opponents, two serious FIBA Europe Cup contenders Umana Reyer Venezia and Nizhny Novgorod are set to meet already in the Quarter-Finals. Holding the advantage of playing the second game at home, the Russian side will need to run a tight ship in Venice to avoid the fate of Egis Kormend, who were left chasing shadows in the return fixture after losing the first leg by 32 points. Other than a couple of slip-ups here and there, the Zoran Lukic-coached Nizhny Novgorod have been relatively consistent throughout the FIBA Europe Cup season and are unlikely to fall into the same trap.

Time: Wednesday, 20:30 CET
Domestic Form: Venezia stayed in first place of Serie A, improving to 17-5 with a 107-83 victory against Cantu. It was the sixth consecutive win for the Venetians. Nizhny Novgorod edged Astana 79-78 in the VTB League to move to a 5-10 record, moving to 9th place with a couple of games in hand as well.
Key Matchup: Austin Daye v Petr Gubanov
How They Qualified: Umana Reyer Venezia qualified for Basketball Champions League directly…transferred to the FIBA Europe Cup after finishing 6th in Group C the Basketball Champions League Regular Season with an 8-6 record…defeated Egis Kormend 169-139 in the Round of 16. Nizhny Novgorod transferred to the FIBA Europe Cup after losing to Telenet Giants Antwerp 156-149 in the Basketball Champions League QR2…won Group H of the Regular Season with a 5-1 record…finished 2nd in Group I of the Second Round with a 3-3 record…defeated Keravnos 148-123 in the Round of 16.
Live Stream: YouTube.com/FIBA

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