In its first ULEB Cup season, Triumph Lyubertsy took the high road into the elimination rounds by downing Swans Gmunden 78-73 at home in Moscow on Tuesday. Triumph raised its Group E record to 7-1, while Swans Gmunden dropped to 4-4 but still will keep at least a share of third place and so is still in the running to advance. A crucial 14-0 run early in the last quarter fueled by the duo of Mire Chatman and Sergey Toporov gave the hosts the decisive break in what had been a close game until then. Chatman was the scoring leader for Triumph with 21 points and 4 assists. Toporov added 17 points for the winners, Ognjen Askrabic had 16 with 8 rebounds, while Fedor Likholitov amassed a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards. Kevin Johnson had an impressive performance for Gmunden with 23 points and 10 rebounds, making 6 of 7 two-point shots and 3 of 3 tries from beyond the arc. Deteri Mayes added 15 for Gmunden while Ian Boylan and Rashard Sullivan nailed 10 apiece.

The match started very even, with Askrabic tying from the foul line on 7-7. Boylan and Toporov were the main protagonists early in the game, giving slim margins to their respective teams. Boylan tied the score at 19-19, before a three-point-play converted by Askrabic gave a 22-21 margin to Triumph after 10 minutes. Igor Zamanskiy extended the cushion to 26-21 early in the second quarter, but Matthias Mayer from three-point land tied again for Gmunden at 26-26. The teams exchanged baskets until Chatman's three-pointer put Triumph ahead again, 33-32, after 16 minutes left. Likholitov pushed Triumph in front by 37-32 before the guests answered with Kevin Johnson to come within 40-39 and a mid-range jumper by Sullivan fixed a 41-41 halftime scoreboard. Toporov and Chatman sparked the hosts to an early 47-41 advantage in the third quarter, but Johnson answered with 9 points in a row to keep Gmunden as close as 52-50. Peter Hutter's free throws tied it up 54-54 for Gmunden after 26 minutes and both defenses dominated the last part of the third quarter until Triumph took a 59-58 lead after 30 minutes on a free throw from Zamanskiy. Mayes would put Gmunden in front again, 61-62, on a pull-up jumper early in the last quarter, but that just seemed to trigger Triumph. Chatman and Toporov answered by leading a 14-0 run that gave a 75-64 cushion to the hosts with 4 minutes left in the game. Johsnon stopped Gmunden's slide with mid-range shooting that gave the visitors new hope. Despite Mayes and Boylan putting all their pride into the last minute with 5 points that helped the guests cut as close as 78-73, Triumph stayed in control behind Askrabic and Chatman to save the victory and look forward to the next round.