European basketball has sprung to life this week and it has been the FIBA Champions League which has been placed under the spotlight. There were eight ties played this week, four in the opening round of qualifiers and four in the second round of qualifiers.
First Qualifying Round scores
This week has seen a total of four ties played in the opening round of the FIBA Champions League qualifying stage.
Donar 133–141 BC Tartu
The two-legged scores were 76–76 and 57–65
Rilski Sportist 122–146 Tsmoki Minsk
The two-legged scores were 58–72 and 64–74
Oradea 144–131 Prievidza
The two-legged scores were 71–64 and 73–67
Petrolina AEK Larnaca 106–145 U-Mobitelco BT Cluj-Napoca
The two-legged scores were 50–78 and 56–67
This means the four teams progressing into the Second Qualifying Round are:
- Tartu
- Tsmoki Minsk
- Oradea
- U-BT Cluj-Napoca
Second Qualifying Round
The second round of the qualifying stages for the FIBA Champions League is taking place in two parts. We’ll take a look at the games which take place next week before recapping the Second Round ties which have been concluded this week.
These teams will take part in a two-legged tie next week and these games are:
- Tartu v Bakken Bears
- Tsmoki Minsk v Ironi Nahariya
- Lukoil Academic v Oradea
- Muratbey Uşak Sportif v U- BT Cluj-Napoca
All of these games will be played on Tuesday the 4th of October and Thursday the 6th of October, with the winner progressing to the group stage of the FIBA Champions League.
Kataja 156–124 Södertälje Kings
The two-legged scores were 97–58 and 59–66
Benfica 144–145 Openjobmetis Varese
The two-legged scores were 72–75 and 72–70
Porto 140–160 Juventus
The two-legged scores were 81–83 and 59–77
KK Igokea 131–152 KK Mornar
The two-legged scores were 71–69 and 60–83
The four teams who have progressed to the group stages are:
- Kataja
- Openjobmetis Varese
- Juventus
- KK Mornar
The closest game was the tie between Benfica from Portugal and Varese from Italy, which was decided by a single point. The away teams clinched victory in both games, and the 3 point margin of triumph in Lisbon for the Italians was enough to drive them forward into the group stages of the FIBA Basketball Champions League.
This leaves four spaces left in the Champions League which means that this time next week, we’ll know all of the 40 teams taking part in the 2016/17 FIBA Champions League. The first matches take place on the 18th of October.
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