FIBA Basketball Champions League: Round 7 day 1

While the Euroleague and EuroCup take a week off, the inaugural FIBA Basketball Champions League is open for business. Round 7 of the Regular Season got underway with ten games across the continent on Tuesday. The remainder of the week’s action will be played out over ten games on Wednesday evening.

Group A

Ironi Nahariya outfought Fraport Skyliners 75-54 in a cruise at home to move to 3-4 in the standings, with the Skyliners now on the same record. The hosts went big in the middle frames, draining 27 points in the third act and keeping the German guests at just 6 points. The stanza paced the win as Ironi was led by Gilbert Brown with 23 points.

CEZ Nymburk smashed Helios Suns 85-55 at home to move to 4-3 and within touching distance of qualification. The Czech champions were simply too good for a Helios team that slips to 1-6 out of the running. 50 second half points meant the home team was never in doubt after cruising through the first half and leading 35-22 at the long break.

Aris Thessaloniki could not collect an important home win and instead slipped 62-65 at the hands of AS Monaco. The French team joins Banvit at the top of the standings (6-1) with this success, while Aris missed the chance to claim sole possession of third place. The hosts now stand with Nymburk on 4-3 with all to play for.

Banvit moved to 6-1 with a clear 99-82 win over Bakken Bears. The Danish Bears played well and forced the Turkish hosts to push close to a century of points to see out the win in good fashion. Bakken is down and out with a 1-6 record at the foot of the standings. A 54-43 first half lead gave the hosts a platform, and a 28-16 surge in the fourth act made the result a formality down the straight.

Group D

Strasbourg swamped KK Mornar at home with a 93-62 win that pushed the French team to 4-3 in fourth place. A close first quarter saw the hosts lead by a single point at 24-23, but the second frame saw Strasbourg carry the momentum with 32 points. Mornar could only manage 8 points in the frame and from there Strasbourg never looked back.

Sidigas Avellino travelled to Juventus Utena and came away with a 75-85 win to move 5-2 alongside their opponents. Juventus missed the chance to move to the top of the standings on its own as Sidigas recovered from a losing first half to post a 10-27 fourth quarter and win the game. Kyrylo Fesenko grabbed a double-double of 25 points and 13 rebounds in the winning effort.

Group E

Proximus Spirou Charleroi overcame Szolnoki Olaj 74-79 on the road to move to 3-4 and push the Hungarian home team down to the bottom of the table on 1-6. The guests led 55-56 after a close first half, before Olaj retook the lead at 79-55 through thirty minutes. Charleroi regained the momentum in the fourth and raced down the straight.

MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg defeated Besiktas 89-83 to close the gap at the top of the standings. The win pushes the Germans to 5-2, behind Besiktas on 6-1. Consistency at the offensive bucket was the key to this win as the hosts broke twenty points in three frames.