EWE Baskets Oldenburg moves closer to Last 32 with win at Nanterre

EWE Baskets Oldenburg closed in on a spot in the Last 32 with an 83-92 road win at JSF Nanterre on Tuesday. Oldenburg, which completed a sweep of Nanterre, improved to 4-5 and can reach the Last 32 as soon as Wednesday if Energia Dolomiti Trento beats Telekom Baskets Bonn. Nanterre fell to 3-6 and saw its Last 32 chances take a hit. Vaughn Duggins paced the winners with 22 points, Brian Qvale netted 19 on 8-of-10 shooting, Klemen Prepelic added 15 points and Rickey Paulding did not miss a shot en route to 14 points. Gerald Robinson paced the hosts with 20 points, Mykal Riley added 15, Jeremy Nzeulie scored 12, Terrance Campbell 11 and Tasmin Mitchell 10.

Campbell for the hosts and Nemenaja Aleksandrov for the visitors opened the scoring with threes on the game’s first two possessions. A pair of Riley triples gave Nanterre a 14-10 lead midway through the quarter. Riley dished to Mam Jaiteh for a 6-point Nanterre advantage. Brian Greene added to the lead before Prepelic caught fire with a three-pointer and 7 free throws in a 2-10 run to end the quarter at 22-22. Duggins opened the second quarter with a three-point play and Robin Smeulders capped what was a 2-15 run. Back-to-back threes by Campbell and Greene put Nanterre back on top. The game remained close and a Paulding triple tied it at 34-34. Qvale scored twice to put Oldenburg ahead and Duggins added to the lead before Campbell closed the gap to 39-40 at halftime.

Campbell nailed a three-pointer to put Nanterre ahead, but Scott Machado free throws tied it and Qvale’s basket-plus-foul put Oldenburg ahead. Nzeulie connected form behind the arc to make it 45-45, however Duggins hit a pair of threes to put the visitors up 47-53. Duggins hit 4 straight free throws and Smeulders added another as the lead swelled to 9. Nanterre scored the next 6 points to get within 55-58, but Oldenburg responded with a 0-6 push of its own and threes by Paulding and Prepelic made it 57-67 through three quarters. Robinson and Riley scored twice to bring the hosts within 6; a three-point play by Smeulders kept Oldenburg in charge. Buckets by Paulding and Duggins took the lead to 12 for the first time, 63-75. Robinson brought the hosts back within 6 again only to see a three-point play from Machado and a Duggins triple. Qvale gave Oldenburg its biggest lead, 71-85. Riley capped an 8-0 charge with a triple to make it a 6-point game with 1:30 remaining, but Duggins, Paulding and Prepelic all made free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.