Gescrap Bilbao Basket cruised into the Last 16 with a convincing 82-60 victory over Lukoil Academic Academic. The men in black remained undefeated and made sure their Eurocup campaign will continue well into 2013 with the victory. Kostas Vasiliadis led the way with 20 points – 12 of which came on 4 three-pointers early in the second half as the hosts stretched a 40-29 halftime lead into a 20-point advantage that set the stage for the win. Roger Grimau added 13 points and Milovan Rakovic posted 10 points and 8 rebounds for the winners. Brandon Heath scored 18, Mohamed Abukar 16, Devin Green tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds and Darryl Watkins netted 12 in defeat.

Lukoil got off to the start it wanted with Watkins scoring the first two baskets of the game. Bilbao tied it quickly through Vasiliadis, but a Heath triple left the visitors ahead 6-9 after four minutes. Abukar and Heath added baskets to stretch the lead to 6. Four different Bilbao players scored in an 8-0 spurt as the hosts took the lead, but Lukoil went back to Watkins inside for 4 points to make it 15-17. Vasiliadis tied the score, but an Abukar three left the Bulgarian champs up 17-20 after 10 minutes. Grimau made the difference for the men in black early in the second quarter. He drew an unsportsmanlike foul from Todor Stoykov, netted 2 free throws and capped an 8-0 run with a steal and layup for a 25-20 edge. Raul Lopez soon lifted Bilbao to 7 ahead. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, but Fran Pilepic nailed a three-pointer and Grimau scored on the offensive glass to give Bilbao a promising 40-29 lead at the break.

Vasiliadis drained a pair of threes early in the third quarter as the hosts stretched the lead to 15. Heath answered from downtown, but Vasiliadis struck his third triple in as many minutes to make it 51-34. Despite a pair of Green baskets, Bilbao remained in total control. Vasiliadis connected once more from deep before Grimau made it a 20-point game. Abukar scored 5 in a 0-9 stretch as Lukoil cut into the deficit. However Bilbao finished the quarter with 6 straight points to make it 64-47. The game seemed to be in Bilbao’s pocket, but the hosts put it away as Rakovic, Adrien Moerman and Raul Lopen nailed back-to-back-to-back three-pointers to cap a 14-2 run that made it 81-53 and sealed the outcome with time to spare.