FIBA Champions League qualifiers: teams from Greece, Turkey and Germany advance
At the FIBA Basketball Champions League qualifying tournament in Samokov, Bulgaria, Patras Promitheas, Kocaeli Körfez Basket, Benfica Lisbon and Rasta Vechta all advanced to the next round. Riga's VEF also reached the quarterfinals after an earlier win over Baku Lions.
The FIBA Basketball Champions League qualifying tournament is underway in Samokov, Bulgaria, with several notable results from the round of 16 games.
Patras Promitheas secured a convincing 92:82 win over the Vienna club, led by American player Nu Williams with 25 points, while Kendale Coleman added 17 points and seven rebounds.
Turkish side Kocaeli Körfez Basket defeated Kolossos Rodou 91:79. Oscar Klafs, who played for the Houston Rockets during this summer's NBA Summer League, contributed 15 points and 13 rebounds to the win.
Benfica Lisbon beat the Geneva club 87:78, despite 26 points scored by American Ty Johnson for the losing side.
The most dramatic contest was the German club Rasta Vechta's game against Turkey's Denizli Basket. Vechta erased a significant deficit in the final quarter to win 101:98. Justin Edler-Davis led Rasta with 26 points, followed by former longtime Anadolu Efes Istanbul center Tibor Pleiss with 25. Denizli's top scorer was Victor Bailey, formerly of Beijing Ducks, with 33 points.
In the quarterfinals, set for September 17, Riga's VEF will also compete after earlier defeating Azerbaijan's Baku Lions 105:88. VEF will now face Poland's Dziki Warszawa.
