Qualification Group A
Cibona outplayed Cholet 77-70 in Vilnius and reached second round of the Euroleague qualifications. The former French champion will meet Lietuvos Rytas tomorrow. Rytas is the host of this tournament. Cholet said goodbye to Euroleague and will compete in EuroCup this season. Antwain Barbour (196-G/F-82, agency: Court Side, college: Kentucky) led Cibona in scoring with 16 points. Demonte Harper (193-G, college: Morehead St.) had 13 points, Damjan Rudez (206-F-86) netted 11 pts and grabbed 6 rebounds, while Brian Chase (178-G-81, college: Virginia Tech) helped Cibona with 10 points. On the other side, Talor Battle (182-PG-88, college: Penn St.) shined with 23 points for Cholet. Their second scorer was Fabien Causeur (193-G-87) with 14 pts (6 as). Quarters: 20-21, 19-19, 20-16, 18-14. As mentioned above, tomorrow Cibona will meet Lietuvos Rytas. Two more games will be played in Vilnius today (first round).
Lietuvos rytas - Buducnost 83-64
Lietuvos Rytas had no troubles to beat Buducnost in Round One of the Euroleague qualifications. Rytas celebrated 83-64 win and will meet Cibona tomorrow in the second game. On the other side, Buducnost faced with elimination. They will compete in EuroCup this season. Renaldas Seibutis (196-G-85) top-scored for Rytas with 17 points and Tyrese Rice (185-PG-87, agency: Priority Sports, college: Boston Coll.) followed him with 16 pts, plus he handed out 5 assists. Jonas Valanciunas (210-C-92) collected 11 points and 8 rebounds, while Mindaugas Katelynas (205-F-83, college: Chattanooga) netted 10 pts. In Buducnost, Nikola Vucevic (208-F-90, college: USC) was better than the others with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Nikola Ivanovic (187-G-94, agency: Beo Basket) scored 14 pts and Bojan Krstovic (194-G-80) stopped to 9. Quarters: 21-22, 19-10, 16-17, 27-15. Lietuvos Rytas is the host of this tournament and one of the main candidates to win it. They already made a first step.
Qualification Group B
Charleroi - BC Donetsk 61-59
Charleroi survived in the first game of the Euroleague qualifications. The host of this tournament grabbed 61-59 win against Dontesk and will meet ALBA Berlin in the second round. Donetsk is eliminated and will play in EuroCup this season. Jiri Welsch (201-F-80) had 13 points and 5 rebounds for the winners. Justin Hamilton (191-G-80, college: Florida) scored 10 points, while Caleb Green (203-F-85, college: ORU) added 9 points and 11 rebs. Charleroi played without injured Mickael Gelabale. In Donetsk, Michael Lee (207-F-86) collected 13 points and 5 rebounds. Ivan Radenovic (208-F-84, college: Arizona) had 11 pts and 8 rebs, while DeMarcus Nelson (193-G-85, agency: Z.A.G. - Law Offices, college: Duke) stopped to 8 pts. Quarters: 10-14, 11-14, 19-15, 21-16. Charleroi missed 6 free throws in the final 33 seconds, giving Donetsk the chance to win the game at the buzzer, but Vule Avdalovic missed a desperation shot from downtown. Tomorrow, Charleroi will meet ALBA.
ALBA - VEF Riga 82-60
ALBA Berlin demonstrated wonderful performance in Round One of the Euroleague Qualifying Tournament in Charleroi. They blasted VEF Riga and will meet the Belgian champion in the next round. That game is scheduled for tomorrow. VEF Riga faced with elimination and will play in EuroCup this season. Lucca Staiger (196-G-88, college: Iowa St.) delivered 15 points for the winners. DaShaun Wood (185-G-85, college: Wright St.) had 13 points, while Marko Simonovic (202-F-86, agency: Beo Basket) (9 rebs), Kyle Weaver (198-G-86, agency: Interperformances, college: Washington St.) (6 as) and Derrick Allen (203-F-80, agency: Pro One Sports, college: Mississippi) (6 rebs) helped with 11 points each. In the loosing squad, Kristaps Janicenoks (196-F-83) scored 12 points. Sandis Valters (193-G-78) and Kaspars Berzins (213-F/C-85) stopped to 10 points each. Quarters: 25-20, 19-12, 21-13, 17-15. As mentioned above, ALBA will meet Charleroi tomorrow. Two more games will be played in Charleroi today (Round One).
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