MUNICH (FIBA Europe Cup) – Donar Groningen and s.Oliver Wurzburg did not let the pressure get to them in must-win games in the last week of the Regular Season, as they claimed qualification-clinching victories on Tuesday.

The Dutch title-holders from Groningen secured a spot in the Second Round with a narrow and nerve-wracking 76-73 victory over the visiting Spirou Basket in Group C after ending the contest on a 9-1 run.

Having found themselves down by five points (67-72) with only a couple of minutes left to spare, Donar stabilized the situation with a string of stops on the defensive end and retook the lead at 74-72 on a go-ahead three-pointer by Joseph Wall with just over a minute remaining.

.@donar_official with 2 huge back-to-back clutch plays to clinch their #FIBAEuropeCup Second Round spot!

📝 https://t.co/9egBUCZsB3 pic.twitter.com/0P1EAAxbam

— FIBA Europe Cup (@FIBAEuropeCup) November 20, 2018

"It was a hard-fought game that could've gone either way but we came out on the top side in this one," the game's leading scorer Teddy Gipson, who had a season-high 20 points for Donar, told media.

"The crowd was amazing, it was like having the sixth player. That was really nice to have. It's been like that for the past two years that I've been here."

His teammates Grant Sitton and Jason Dourisseau collected 11 points apiece, as Donar finished the Regular Season at the top of the standings with a 5-1 mark.

There were 3,660 fans in attendance at the MartiniPlaza in Groningen

"It was very important [to reach the Second Round]. We wanted to advance so we laid it all on the line. Tonight we got the job done. We can celebrate tonight and look forward to the next round," Gipson breathed a sigh of relief.

Dario Hunt and Nate Linhart had 15 and 12 points for Spirou, respectively, but the defeat spelled the end of the road for the Belgian side, with Pinar Karsiyaka claiming the second spot in Group C.

"Donar is a hell of a team. It's a great shooting team. It's fun to watch them," Spirou head coach Brian Lynch complimented his opponents. "These guys are, in a way, like the Warriors. They're just bombing threes all over the gym, they don't miss."

s.Oliver Wurzburg and ZZ Leiden both progressed to the Second Round

Elsewhere, s.Oliver Wurzburg did not leave their fate to chance and booked a ticket to the Second Round after inscribing an 87-61 victory over ZZ Leiden after an emphatic second-half performance.

After a close-fought first half of play, the Kresimir Loncar-led Germans broke away in the third quarter and cruised to the top seed in Group A, improving to a 4-2 record to push Leiden to the second place in the table despite an identical record.

Loncar needed just 15 minutes to collect 15 points for Wurzburg, Perry Ellis scored 12 points, while Gabe Olaseni double-doubled with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Meanwhile, Leiden's go-to scorer Darius Thompson finished the contest with a game-high 26 points.

#GAMEDAY 👉 Après s’être bien battu, BMH s’incline ce soir face à BC Balkan. 📍Final/75-78 (Upshur 20pts, Jones 17pts, Chrabascz 11pts, Cage 11pts, Giancaterino 8pts, Van Caeneghem 6pts, Lasisi 2pts) 🏀 L’aventure européenne des Renards est officiellement terminée. @FIBAEuropeCup pic.twitter.com/AKCUEnyWIV

— Belfius Mons-Hainaut (@mons_hainaut) November 20, 2018

In the only other game of the day, the already-qualified Balkan stopped their two-game slide in Group B by holding on to a 78-75 win over Belfius Mons-Hainaut and also securing first place in the standings with a 4-2 record.

Brandon Brown went just 3-of-12 from the field but converted all 10 of his free throws for a team-high 18 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the victors, while Quinton Upshur collected 20 points for Mons-Hainaut to lead all scorers.

FIBA