Turkey: Fenerbahce Ulker, Pinar Karsiyaka reach semis
Fenerbahce Ulker Istanbul and Pinar Karsiyaka Izmir will meet in the Turkish Cup semifinals after each won their quarterfinals clashes on Wednesday in Gaziantep. Fenerbahce outlasted tournament host Royal Hali Gaziantep 72-73 behind big efforts from Nemaja Bjelica and Jan Vesely. The game was close throughout; the hosts led early in the second half, but threes by Andrew Goudelock and Kenan Sipahi helped Fenerbahce to a promising 44-53 lead. Gaziantep came back with a 9-0 run to tie it and the score was 56-56 entering the fourth quarter. A Bjelica triple made it 63-69 with less than four minutes remaining, but Vesely free throws kept Fenerbahce up 5 with two-and-a-half minutes to go. Gaziantep got within 1 on free throws by Earl Colloway and Jawad Williams. But after forcing Fenerbahce into a 24-second violation, Williams missed in the final minute and the visitors denied Gaziantep a final shot. Bjelica finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, Vesely posted 13 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks and Goudelock scored 11. Domen Lorbek led Gaziantep with 14 points and Colloway added 13 points and 7 assists.
In the first game of the Turkish Cup quarterfinals, 2014 winner Pinar Karsiyaka eliminated Banvit Bandirma 89-64. Bobby Dixon scored 18 points and Jon Diebler added 17 to pace the winners. Karsiyaka used a 23-12 second quarter to take a 46-30 halftime lead and then opened the second half on an 11-0 run to take an insurmountable 27-point advantage, which Banvit was unable to recover from. Juan Palacios and Kenny Gabriel added 10 points each and Cemal Nalga collected 10 rebounds for the winners. Jimmy Baron led Banvit with 14 points, Vladimir Veremeenko scored 13 and E.J. Rowland tallied 9 points and 6 assists in defeat.
Croatia: Cedevita claims ticket to final
Cedevita Zagreb will face Zadar in the Kresimir Cosic Cup championship game. Cedevita recorded a 104-68 victory over Kvarner 2010 in the first semifinal in Vukovar and Zadar topped Cibona Zagreb 82-74 in the nightcap. Cedevita’s Luka Babic starred with 24 points on near-perfect shooting for the winners. Kvarner used a 0-10 first-quarter run to take the lead and Sinisa Stemberger’s triple tied it at 18-18 after 10 minutes. However Nemanja Gordic hit a pair of threes in an 8-1 start to the second quarter as Cedevita built a 10-point halftime lead and then overwhelmed Kvarner 63-37 in the second half to cruise to victory. Gordic, Miro Bilan and Stanko Barac added 11 points apiece and Ivan Ramljak scored 10 for the winners. Barac collected 9 rebounds and Bilan 8 as Cedevita outrebounded Kvarner 39-22. Dino Cinac scored 15 and Marjan Cakarun added 11 for Kvarner.
Zadar held on after Cibona erased a 13-point third-quarter deficit to rake a 65-66 lead on Ante Zizic’s free throw. Threes by James Florence and Marko Ramljak put Zadar back in control. Ivan Siriscevic triple kept Cibona within a shot with one minute to go, but Florence sank 4 free throws down the stretch to ice the 82-74 victory. Florence finished with 30 points after making 13 of 13 shots from the foul line. Zizic and Maric Rozic scored 15 each for Cibona.
Slovenia: Union Olimpija starts strong
Union Olimpija Ljubljana stormed into the semifinals of the Slovenian Cup with a 104-68 dismantling of Slovan. It will meet Zlatorog in the semis after it bested Sencur Gorenjska gradbena druzba 79-71 in the second quarterfinal. Olimpija outscored Slovan by double figures in each of the first three quarters to claim the victory. Paolo Marinelli led the attack with 22 points, Vasilije Vucetic compiled 17 points and 11 rebounds, Blaz Mahkovic also scored 17 and Klemen Prepelic and Hristo Nikolov added 14 points each. Marinelli, Mahkovic and Nikolov each had 4 steals as Olimpija forced Slovan into 27 turnovers. Matic Sirnik scored 16 and Milos Varagic 15 in defeat. Zlatorog defeated Sencur Gorenjska gradbena druzba 79-71 behind 23 points from Miha Lapornik and 22 from Saso Zagorac.