Eurochallenge Regular Season Round 3
The 2014/2015 Eurochallenge Regular Season is only three weeks old but it has already thrown up excitement in spades. One of the closest competitions in terms of encounters, the Eurochallenge always provides a spectacle of hoops and the start of Round 3 proved to be no different. The week’s action tipped off with nine games around the continent. From those nine games, there were only three teams claiming wins and home court advantage.
Group A
SPM Shoeters Den Bosch picked up its second win of the Eurochallenge Regular Season with a convincing 88-72 home victory over Södertälje Kings. The visiting Kings set the early pace though by outlasting Den Bosch 21-24 through the opening 10 minutes, while they consolidated their advantage with a 24-25 second frame. A high scoring first half ended 45-49 in favour of the away team. The hosts started to come into the contest through the third stanza and found a solid rhythm at both ends of the hardwood to put together a 21-12 run and take the lead through thirty minutes (66-61). Den Bosch doubled the Kings score in the fourth quarter to win the period 22-11 and claim a comfortable victory built on a strong second half.
Group B
Kormend entered this encounter with an unblemished record, but Tartu Rock soon inflicted a first loss on the club with a 72-79 road win. The Rock were in control through the opening exchanges and put a 13-19 lead onto the scoreboard at the sound of the buzzer. In the second quarter Kormend were good, streaming in 25 points while holding the away team to 11, enough for a 38-30 lead at the long break. The visitors cut through the deficit in the third stint with a solid scoring run, recording a 17-23 period win to make it 55-53 at the final split. In the fourth quarter Tartu Rock maintained the momentum with a game winning 17-26 run, although the game never looked anything but on the edge despite the final score.
Group C
Heading into this game the Bakken Bears were on the hunt for their first Eurochallenge Regular Season win, but the home team was left disappointed. Okapi Aalstar managed to maintain their unbeaten record this campaign with an 83-92 success. It was a high scoring opening to the game as both teams looked in solid touch at the bucket, eventually Aalstar taking the frame 23-24. Bakken edged another point’s explosion in the second with a 27-23 run to make it 50-47 through 20 minutes. The Bears were on course for a win after taking the third quarter 25-24 (75-71), but Okapi used an 8-21 run in the final act to steal the victory.
Group D
Both Oradea and Tofas entered this encounter in search of their first wins of the term, but Tofas travelled to Oradea and came away with a 69-77 win to get off the mark. Oradea would have felt confident after the first quarter though as the hosts went big with a 28-13 run through the first break. Tofas replied with a big stanza of their own, holding the home team to 9 points while they offered 19 points to make it 37-32 heading into the locker room. The comeback continued in Q3 as the visitors looked hot again with an 11-21 streak, enough to hand them a 48-53 lead with 30 on the ticker. A basket for basket final stint followed, but Tofas held firm to cruise down the stretch.
Group E
Nanterre put twenty points on Belfius Mons-Hainaut in a big 88-68 home win that kept the French team undefeated and handed the Belgians their first loss. Nanterre led throughout as the hosts took the first quarter 20-19 and pulled ahead with a hot 33-17 second frame (53-36 at halftime). Mons-Hainaut rallied in the third to win it 11-17, but Nanterre went up a gear again to sweep the fourth frame 24-15.
A high scoring encounter between Kataja Basket and Benfica saw away team Benfica emerge with a slender 90-93 victory, giving the Portuguese outfit their first win, while keeping Kataja without victory. Benfica laid down a marker with a big 21-31 first quarter and the marker was duly met by the Finnish hosts as they nailed 28 points and held the visitors to 11 in the second, leading 49-42 through the long break. Benfica narrowed the gap with a 21-24 third stanza run before stealing victory in a tense fourth period.
Group F
Trabzonspor Medical Park saw off Magnofit Güssing Knights 80-72 in Turkey to make the most of home court advantage to stay unblemished at 3-0. The writing was on the wall in the first quarter as the hosts put the Knights to task with a fantastic 22-9 winning opening. Trabzonspor consolidated the advantage with a 22-21 streak in Q2 to lead 44-30 at the midway buzzer. In the third act the visitors responded for the first time with a 16-23 run, but in the fourth the home team stayed strong to cruise to the winning buzzer.
Atomerömü used a late flurry away from home to gun down Cluj-Napoca 64-73. The Cluj contingent went into the lead after ten minutes with a 22-19 flurry, but then took a big lead into the halftime break with a 17-7 run making it 39-26 on the scoreboard. The visitors used a big 10-22 streak in the third quarter to get back into the game, but Cluj held the cards heading into the final minutes of the fourth quarter. However, Atomerömü reeled off the final 12 points of the game to get the win.
Group G
KTP Basket and Antwerp Giants played out the highest scoring game of the evening as the Antwerp club broke a ton of points to win comfortably on the road, the final score reading 93-112. KTP took the lead with a 29-26 first quarter, but the Giants put their scoring exploits into action in the second frame with a 13-30 blitz (42-56). A big scoring third stint saw the teams go bucket for bucket and lock the period 28 apiece to make it 70-84 through three quarters. In the last quarter Antwerp put another 28 points on the board to break a century and win at a canter.