Parma inflict first loss on Legia; Scrubb, Avtodor sink Bakken at the buzzer

MUNICH (Germany) - Legia Warszawa suffered defeat for the first time in this season's FIBA Europe Cup as the Second Round commenced with eight games taking place on Wednesday.

Parma-Parimatch pulled off a hard-fought 72-70 success on the road having surrendered a commanding 24-point lead as a tense finale ensued in Poland. The home side recovered from a 52-29 half-time deficit with a 15-0 run before taking the lead down the stretch.

However, a pair of free throws from Aleksandr Platunov would prove to be the difference with the Russian guard leading all scorers with 18 points off the bench, while Artsiom Parakhouski and Eigirdas Zakauskas were both in double figures in support.

The result leaves Bahcesehir College as the only remaining unbeaten side as they had opened up Group L with a convincing 107-82 victory at home to London Lions. The Turkish side weathered an early storm with a dominant second-half display behind a pair of double-doubles as Jamar Smith put up 20 points and 11 assists, while Richard Solomon posted 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Phil Scrubb's three-pointer at the buzzer handed Avtodor Saratov a dramatic 96-95 victory away at Bakken Bears. The visitors were led by Jaron Johnson's 24 points with Zeljko Sakic adding 21 points to help counter a 26-point haul from Jarred Ogungbemi-Jackson.

Bakken fired in 33 points in the second quarter to level the game at 52-52 at half-time and there was little to separate the two teams in the second half. The Bears had a five-point cushion on three occasions in the fourth including at 92-87 with 1:43 remaining, but the Russian side rallied and Scrubb had the final say with the game-winner.

"They hit a big shot at the end. It comes down to one possession and a good player hits a big three," Bakken head coach Anders Sommer said afterwards.

"We wanted to switch to avoid that situation. We'd rather have overtime than them hitting a three. That said, many people talked about how good a team Avtodor are, and that's true. But so are we. That's the kind of self-confidence that's still present in the changing room."

ZZ Leiden rounded out Gameday 1 of the Second Round with an impressive 89-84 victory over medi Bayreuth in Germany. Jhonathan Dunn hit four triples in a 27-point outing for the Dutch side with Asbjorn Midtgaard recording a big double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Einaras Tubutis also had 21 points.

"I don’t want to overestimate things, but when you come in as a Dutch club and get a win on the road against any German team in the FIBA Europe Cup it is huge. It is huge for every individual player and it is huge for the whole club and it is a good start to our Second Round group play," ZZ Leiden head coach Geert Hammink commented. 

In Group J, Unahotels Reggio Emilia came through a close affair to edge out HAKRO Merlins Crailsheim for an 84-80 triumph as Mikael Hopkins led the way with an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double. Kyiv-Basket earned a 90-82 success at home to Telenet Giants Antwerp behind 20 points from Avery Woodson with Mike Caffey handing out 9 assists to go with 14 points in the win.

It was a mixed night for the Portuguese teams in Group K as Sporting CP earned an 83-72 win on their travels against Trefl Sopot as Travante Williams top scored with 18 points, while Benfica were handed a 68-56 road defeat by CSM CSU Oradea.

FIBA