Eurocup: 2013-14 season tips off with 48 teams
The new season of Eurocup competition opened on Tuesday with major structural changes designed to get more teams involved and give those teams, and a few other friends, additional competition. With the addition of 16 teams, the Eurocup organizers also implemented geographically-based groups and then divided those groups into two ‘Conferences’. Their plan was to cut down on the amount of travel to save the clubs much-needed funds, while giving them more games. By expanding to 48 teams, the league also expanded the groups from four to six teams, so the regular season will now consist of 10 games, with each team playing the other five in their group twice, once home and once away. At the end of the regular season the top three teams in each group will advance to the next round and will be joined by the eight Euroleague teams that do not move on to the next round in that competition. The 32 remaining squads will be divided into eight groups of four teams and will compete in a round-robin, home-away series to determine the top two teams from each group to move on to the Eurocup Eighth-Finals. From the eighth-finals on, the contests will be head-to-head, home-away series to determine advancement and ultimately the Eurocup Champion.
With all that said, seven games were played on Monday to get the season started, with the remaining 17 set to be played on Wednesday…
Group B
Bilbao Basket – Cedevita Zagreb, 82:77
Bilbao outlasted guest squad Cedevita and earned an 82:77 win in their Eurocup opener. Bilbao was paced by Alex Mumbru with 19 points, six of which came at the end of the contest to give the hosts the breathing room they needed to pull away and secure the win. Bilbao got the early lead, but Cedevita then ran off nine unanswered to get up 9:14 and then finish the quarter up 15:18. Bilbao regained the lead early in the second, only to have Cedevita go on a 2:10 run that gave them back the lead. Raul Lopez knocked down a triple at the end of the half to put Bilbao up at the break. The hosts took control in the third, getting up by eight, 61:53, as time expired in the third. A 3:8 run by the guests pulled them within three, 64:61, but a series of three-balls with under a minute to play locked the contest up for Bilbao, 82:77. Mumbru led Bilbao with 19 points and 8 rebounds, with Raul Paul added 14 points, and Fran Pilepic dropping in 12. Nolan Smith was game-high with 24 point and a PIR of 26 for Cedevita.
Group C
Paris Levallois – Valencia Basket, 68:85
Valencia used a big first half to grab an important road win early in the season, 68:85. Five members of the Valencia squad scored in double digits and they shot 51.9% (14 of 27) from behind the arc. The visitors ran out to a double digit lead early after dropping triples and holding Paris scoreless for roughly five minutes. At the end of the first 10 Valencia was up 10:19. The second frame was much the same with a 3:19 scoring dash in the mix extending the lead to 29:45 at the mid-game break. The second half saw the lead grow to 18, but then the hosts put together a scoring run of their own, cutting the deficit to seven, 43:50. Valencia got things back on track and the lead returned, by the end of the third they were up 15, 51:66. In the early part of the fourth the lead grew again to nearly 20, 55:73, and from there on the clubs exchanged baskets as the lead ended at 17 in the end, 68:85. Oliver Lafayette was game-high for Valencia with 17 points and 8 assists, Bojan Dubljevic added 16 points and 6 rebounds, Sam Van Rossom scored 14, Rafa Martinez added 12 points and 5 rebounds and Pablo Aguilar contributed 10 points. Daniel Ewing and Giovan Oniangue each scored 10 points to lead Paris.
Group D
Telekom Baskets Bonn – Alba Berlin, 65:86
Alba Berlin put up as many as 35 points on German rivals Telekom Baskets Bonn, before settling in with a 21-point advantage to open their Eurocup campaign. David Logan knocked down 6 of 8 triple attempts on his was to a game-high 20 and his teammates combined for some impressive shooting stats: 18 of 29 (62.1%) from inside the arc, 12 of 17 (70.6%) behind the arc, and 14 of 15 (93.3%) from the line. Alba built a double digit lead after the first frame, extended that lead to 22, 28:50, at the half, then pushed the margin to 31 at the end of the third frame, 42:73. Bonn took back 10 in the fourth, outscoring Berlin 23:13 in the final frame. After Logan’s 20, Berlin got 13 each from Akeem Vargas and Vojdan Stojanovski, 12 from Leon Radosevic and 10 from Levon Kendall. Benas Veikalas and Jamel McLean led Bonn with 14 each.
CAI Zaragoza – Belfius Mons Hainaut, 73:56
In the second Group D contest of the day, CAI Zaragoza ran off 27 unanswered points in the first half against Belfius Mons Hainaut to build a 25-point lead at the mid-game break on their way to a 73:56 victory. Belfius opened the early lead, getting up 2:11, but CAI closed out the first frame on a 19:0 run that extended into the second quarter giving the hosts a 31:13 advantage before the guests tallied any points again. Belfius cut into the lead slightly in both the third (16:21) and the fourth (12:15), but the damage was done early and CAI got their first Eurocup win. Damjan Rudez was game-high for CAI with 16, while Giorgi Shermadini turned in a 10P/10R double double, while Jonathan Tabu scored 10 points and hauled in 6 rebounds. Jason Love was high-man for Belfius with a 15P/11R double double, Justin Cage added 11 points and Guy Muya Muboyayi scored 10.
Group F
PAOK Thessaloniki – Buducnost Voli Podgorica, 85:84
In the closest contest of the day, PAOK earned their first win of the Eurocup season with an 85:84 decision over Buducnost Voli on a D.J. Cooper buzzer-beater from downtown that capped a wild final two minutes that saw the lead change hands seven times. PAOK was led by big man Giorgos Bogris who dropped a cool 28 on the night. The hosts put up the early lead, getting out to a 24:19 advantage after the first 10. Buducnost countered in the second with a 10:19 quarter, to take a 34:38 lead into the intermission. The guest added two to the margin, finishing the third up 52:58, and setting up a fourth quarter that saw the two clubs score an amazing 59 points, 33:26, to wrap the contest with the PAOK win at 85:84. Bogris was 12 of 19 from inside the arc and doubled his previous Eurocup career-high game with his 28 points on the night. Cooper added 16 points and 8 assists, Michalis Tsairelis scored 15, and Kostas Charalampidis tallied 10. Aleska Popovic led Buducnost with 22 points, Vladimir Mihailovic added 15, Aleksandar Capin score 14, and Jeleel Akindele turned in a 12P/12R double-double.
Group G
Banvit Bandirma – Kalev Cramo Tallinn, 86:60
Banvit entertained their home crowd with a 26-point beat-down of Kalev Cramo Tallinn to earn their first Eurocup win of the 2013-14 season. After a close first 10 where Banvit got up by three, 25:22, the locals put together two huge quarters, outscoring Kalev 48:24 and building a 73:46 advantage through three frames. The final quarter went to the guests 13:14, but the damage had been done and Banvit got their win. Sammy Meija led the hosts with 15 points, and Earl Rowland and Klemen Prepelic added 10 each, Chuck Davis tallied 9 points and 8 rebounds. Bamba Fall was game-high for Kalev with 16 points and 7 rebounds, while Vlad Moldoveanu added 10 points to the loss.
VEF Riga – MZT Skopje Aerodrom, 80:71
Riga and Skopje played to second and third quarter ties before Riga put up 9 in the fourth to pick up the home win. Riga got a big game from Kenan Bajramovic, who dropped in 22 points and grabbed 9 rebounds on his way to a 34 PIR for the contest. The hosts got the early lead, ending the first frame up 14:11. Skopje countered with a 19:22 second quarter to knot the score at 33 at the intermission after opening the frame with a 0:7 run and capping it with a fast break lay-up to close out scoring in the half. Riga went on a 10:2 run in the third to build a five-point lead, but they gave it up by the end of the third 10 and headed into the final frame with the score tied at 56. With 10 straight to get the fourth quarter underway, Riga just had to maintain the lead to earn the win. Skopje was able to pull to within four, 66:62, but a pair of long-balls got the margin back to double digits, which is where it stayed. Bajramovic’s 22 was game-high for Riga, Dee Brown added 19, Arturs Berzins dropped in 13, and Antywane Robinson scored 10. Uros Lucic was high-man for Skopje with 15, Alexandar Kostoski and Gjorgji Cekovski both tallied 13, and Stefan Sinovec contributed 11.