Walden rakes in back-to-back Top Performer honors

HOLON (Israel) - After treating the Holon Toto Arena to another trademark display in the Play-Offs, UNET Holon guard Corey Walden became the first player this season to earn back-to-back Top Performer honors in the FIBA Europe Cup.

Despite an explosive night from the American guard, the Israeli side will be forced to play catch-up against Dinamo Sassari in next week's rematch after falling to a 94-89 defeat in the first-leg clash in Israel.

Having connected on 8-of-13 field goal attempts, Walden had his fingerprints all over the boxscore, tallying 26 points, 5 steals, 4 rebounds and 3 assists for a personal best of 32 in efficiency.

The main culprits behind Holon's defeat, Rashawn Thomas and Jaime Smith, locked in two places on the Team of the Week with solid road displays for the Sardinian club.

Thomas racked up 21 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal, while Smith finished just shy of a double-double with 14 points and 9 assists on near-perfect 6-of-7 shooting.

In the other Semi-Final, it was the Jordan Hulls show all over again for s.Oliver Wurzburg, who marched to a crushing 89-66 victory over Pallacanestro Varese. The in-form guard played his part by collecting 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals off the bench.

Meanwhile, Tyler Cain of Varese was the lone glimmer of light for the home side, putting up 15 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks in a lopsided defeat that will be extremely tough to overturn in Germany.

FIBA