Lukoil Academic Sofia downed Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir 74-64 on Wednesday, however the margin of victory was enough for Karsiyaka to advance to the next round despite the loss. The win improved Lukoil’s record to 3-5. Alando Tucker paced the winners by scoring 18 points with 8 rebounds and 3 assists, Bozidhar Avramov added 14 on 4-of-8 shooting from downtown, Dimitris Verginis collected 13 while Aleksandar Yanev and Jure Lalic bagged 10 each in victory. Bobby Dixon tallied 20 for the Turkish side on 5 for 8 from long distance, Jon Diebler netted 15, Esteban Batista 10 and Leo Lyons amassed 9 points and 8 rebounds.

Tucker jumper made it 5-0 for the hosts before Dixon from downtown gave a 12-18 margin to the visiting team. A final 8-0 run capped by Avramov from long distance fixed the score at 20-18 for Lukoil Academic at the end of the first quarter. He scored another three to open the second, but it was Lyons again converting an offensive rebound to put again Pinar up 31-32. The two teams exchanged leads and Avramov again, this time from mid-range gave a slim 39-38 margin to the home team at halftime. Six consecutive points for Lukoil by Tucker made it 45-39 early in the third quarter. Dixon from beyond the arc kept the guests close, 47-46. Avramov from three-point range and Batista in the paint scored pumped the cushion to 54-48 after three quarters. Dixon remained hot and drained his fifth three to get within 58-55 three minutes into the last quarter, then 11 unanswered points scored by the local team, capped by a Yanev layup extended the margin to 72-58 with two minutes left in the game to clinch a comfortable win.