EuroChallenge: Paris rebounds to beat Pinar

It looked like it was going to be a clean sweep for the home clubs in the first game of the quarterfinals in the EuroChallenge, until the Paris Levallois squad decided that they weren’t going to just let Pinar Karslyaka have the first game of their best of three series and fought back from nine down with less than five minutes to play to pick up a huge road win in the last seconds of the contest. The other three games weren’t as close as BCM Gravelines ran over Joensuun Kataja with a 29-point win; Krasnye Krylia routed Telekom Baskets, 80:60; and EWE Baskets held off a hard charging Khimik for an 82:74 game 1 win.

EuroChallenge Quarterfinals, Game 1
Pinar Karsiyaka – Paris Levallois, 74:76
Paris Levallois got the upper hand in their best of three series with Pinar Karsiyaka as they took the first contest on the road Tuesday and will look to close out the series at home on Thursday. Pinar thought they had this one in the bag but let Paris back in the game late in the fourth quarter. Paris got 19 from Louis Labeyrie, while Pinar’s William Thomas was game-high with 25.

Pinar got out to the early lead taking the first 10, 17:12, in part with an 8:2 run that covered the last five minutes of the first frame. Paris took over in the second and covered the spread from the first with an 18:24 score in the second. Labeyrie accounted for 10 of the squad’s 24 in the second, driving them to a 35:36 advantage at the half.

The hosts ran off the first six points of the second half to get themselves up five, 41:36. It took a few minutes, but Pinar knotted things up at 47 with just under four minutes to play in the third and the two traded buckets the rest of the quarter to head into the final frame with the board reading 52:52.

Robert Dixon drained a triple as the last 10 opened to put Pinar up three. Before two minutes had clicked off, the hosts had built a six-point margin. Thomas picked up four quick points by dropping in a pair of singles and then getting a dunk on the end of a Dixon assist. Sonkol got a tip in off a missed three-ball, giving Pinar a nine-point advantage, 66:57 with 6:22 to play. From there the rim seemed to get a lot smaller for Pinar as finding a hoop became difficult. With just over a minute to play Cox drained a triple to pull within two, 73:71. Thomas split a pair of freebies to push the lead to three, 74:71. Cox split the defense, took the ball to the hole and connected on a lay-up. He was fouled on the drive, and dropped in the freebie to complete the three-point play and knot the score at 74. With 14 seconds left and the score still at 74s, Pinar’s Topaloglu turned the ball over with a bad pass that was picked off by Diot. Diot was immediately fouled by Topaloglu, sending Diot to the line for two free throws. Diot connected on both, giving Paris a two-point margin of victory.

Labeyrie led the winners with 19 points and six rebounds. Andrew Albicy added 14, while the duo of Giovan Onlangue and Cox added 12.

Thomas’ 25 was game-high for Pinar, Dixon dropped in 17, Abdul Aminu contributed 14.

EWE Baskets – Khimik, 82:74

Krasnye Krylia – Telekom Baskets, 80:60

BCM Gravelines – Joensuun Kataja, 86:57

EuroChallenge Quarterfinals, Game 2, March 14
Paris Levallois – Pinar Karsiyaka
Joensuun Kataja – BCM Graveline
Telekom Baskets – Krasnye Krylia
Khimik – EWE Baskets

EuroChallenge Quarterfinals, Game 3, March 19 (If necessary)
Pinar Karsiyaka – Paris Levallois
BCM Gravelines – Joensuun Kataja
Krasnye Krylia – Telekom Basket
EWE Baskets – Khimik